Return of the Five Dastardly Bombers!
by WarioMan3K
Summary: DCC #5 of my fanfic series. The Red Falcon Empire, desperate for reinforcements, sought for the far reaches of space to resurrect the Five Dastardly Bombers. Under strict orders, Purple Basilisk reprograms them to serve Red Falcon instead of their original creator, Bagular, as the empire instigates a World War III on Earth... CROSSOVER FIC, WITH FANTASY VIOLENCE AND MINOR LANGUAGE.
1. Prologue

Summer may be halfway over, but I'm not out yet. In fact, I'm enjoying it while it lasts (in addition to finally getting to play _EarthBound_ from Super Nintendo, via Wii U Virtual Console), and I thought about starting the next fic in my revamped Diamond City Chronicles series. **Oh, and as a side note for those who are new to reading said series, I recommend against reading any further until after you've read through the following two fics in chronological order: The Alien Wars, and WarioMan 64. Then you can start reading the DCC series, beginning with Super Contra World.**

* * *

_It is a historical event, that no one will ever forget. Everyone thought Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, who would later live alongside Aaron and Ami as the Four Contras in Diamond City, ended the Alien Wars by killing Red Falcon. But five years since, the alien warmonger and his band of Hate Bombers were back! Only one of said rogue Bombermen, Blaze Bomber, was revealed to have been brainwashed against his will all along - he never was a Hate Bomber to begin with._

_Nevertheless, the Four Contras fought hard on Dinosaur Land to save the day, free Blaze Bomber of the brainwashing curse, and beat back the evil Red Falcon Empire. Although Purple Basilisk, Axe Bomber, and Sniper Bomber were beaten once again at the time, Red Falcon survived his defeat to continue the Alien Wars another day..._

_And continue the war he did, but his return didn't last long, for the Contras attacked him and his followers at the source: Pandaemonium itself, a hellish castle that originally belonged to the Devil before Red Falcon had it modified into a colossal space station. It didn't stop our heroes from persisting onward, and eventually crushing the intergalactic empire of destruction for good..._

_...Or, so we believed._

**"I'll pay the Contras ****_and_**** all their close friends back, tenfold!" **~Sniper Bomber

-Return of the Five Dastardly Bombers!-

Prologue

LANCE'S P.O.V.

At last, after five long years, Bill and I crushed the Red Falcon Empire, but we couldn't have done it without the help of our friends, including Aaron, Ami, and Blaze Bomber. Despite Red Falcon's death, however, Sniper Bomber and Purple Basilisk still live. At the very least, the Earth...no, the universe, would know peace once again...but only until a while afterwards. We've heard from Cheerful White and his former rival, Cool Black, that there used to be a band of rogue Bombermen known only as the "Five Dastardly Bombers." Although they're already dead for I think two or three years, it's possible Sniper Bomber and Purple Basilisk might be working on their revival.

I wouldn't be surprised if they're also intent on resurrecting Red Falcon himself by any means necessary, but then again, who knows? I have a bad feeling about this, anyway. Speaking of bad feelings, there's a chance we might run into Arctic Bomber once again. Hopefully, though, she'll have finally learned her lesson and strayed from Red Falcon's path. As a matter of fact, I heard she got kicked out after repeatedly failing to stop us.

END P.O.V.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners.**


	2. The beginning of a World War III

Chapter 1 of DCC #5 is up and running. As always, enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The beginning of a World War III...

[Opening BGM: Sector 1 (SRX) (Metroid Fusion)]

JULY 13, 20XX...

_**"You're doing well, ****but why continue this pointless conflict? We'd just end up killing each other, anyway."**_

_"What do you want, Red Falcon?" I demanded, keeping my guard up cautiously._

_**"To bestow upon you the power of the Crimson Stone that Purple Basilisk recreated for me, under my supervision. You've shown us your great strength, your pure intellect, and even perseverance. Think about it: we could rule the universe together, and none shall ever think about killing you anymore, let alone stage a petty rebellion. Take it in your hands, and you'll have everything you've ever dreamed of: power, riches, an eternal life in paradise..."**_

_"An eternal life in paradise with the likes of you?" Cute Pink scoffed. "As if!"_

_"She's right. It's obviously not what 9-Volt, Phoebe, and all our close friends would have wanted," agreed Cheerful White._

_**"You would dare to decline what the Crimson Stone has to offer? You two are obviously not born on planet Earth, but think of it this way: you and your friends could live forever, and not worry about anybody coming to kill you, much less slit your throat."**_

_Mona shook her head no. "That stone is evil. It offers nothing but the curse of a vampire. Mathias Cronqvist let himself be swayed by the power he created to have eternal youth, and became Dracula willingly so he could curse our Heavenly Father for 'stealing' his beloved Elisabetha from him. It wasn't just the Belmont clan and their blessed Vampire Killer that did him in time and time again; it was also his own twisted delusions that led to his repeated downfall. Even his own son, Alucard, disagreed with his plans to cover our world in eternal darkness."_

_"In other words," said Wario, "you can take that stone and shove it where the sun don't shine! We don't trust you and your bullcrap!"_

_**"What ails you?! Have you no ambition?! Your own people selfishly start wars, you kill each other just to show the world your self-proclaimed godly power! Because of everything that's happened, your pathetic kind have grown sick of what your planet has become today. Take the Crimson Stone that Sniper Bomber and I intend to share only with you now, and we'll change everything by building a new world where crime, poverty, pollution, and all such heresy no longer exist."**_

_"That may be so," said Bill, "but unlike you and your scumbag followers, we humans are capable of learning from history overall, so that we wouldn't repeat the potentially devastating mistakes we might have made years, decades, even centuries ago."_

_"What we're saying is," added Lance, "we'd rather destroy the Crimson Stone than join the likes of you. I mean, that's why you always lose. You don't want to unify Earth, you want to conquer it!"_

_**"No! Wait! Hold on! ****It's cool! Everything's cool! Th-think about what you're doing!"**_

_"Just the right thing," said Ami, "and that's by destroying you, Sniper Bomber, and the Crimson Stone!"_

_**"NOOOOOO!"** Red Falcon cried out, his body disintegrating from our combined attacks that broke through his own. **"DAMN YOU, CONTRAS! I...WILL...NOT...DIE!"**_

* * *

On that very day, we, the Four Contras, had finally succeeded in destroying the vile Red Falcon to save the universe. Though we considered ourselves the heroes of Earth, we had an uneasy feeling that Sniper Bomber and Purple Basilisk were still alive. In fact, they are...just lost somewhere in space. Little did we know they made a crash-landing onto a distant, icy planetoid within the Freezeflame Galaxy, that one might recognize from _Super Mario Galaxy_...

"I don't believe this!" Purple Basilisk complained. "We go from being trapped in the underworld to being stuck in the freakin' ice! What more could go wrong?!"

"The fact that we lost our leader, in addition to Axe Bomber and the other Hate Bombers," snarled Sniper Bomber.

The Chaotic Bombers, despite being wounded from the crash, were able to stand up. Boxer Bomber said, "Hey, don't sweat it, master Basilisk! It could be worse, you know."

"But just remember," interrupted Sniper Bomber, "you and your Chaotic Bombers work for me now. Don't even think I have forgotten about the day you willingly usurped Lord Red Falcon's throne."

Purple Basilisk sighed, not wanting to hear what Sniper just said to him. "Yes, yes, I know that! You don't have to keep hammering it in!"

"I'll do it however I want, until you really learn your place and start obeying us again! Right now, we need to fix our ship, get off this planetoid, and search the far reaches of space for reinforcements...even if we have to bribe a bunch of intergalactic soldiers to join our cause! And then we can come right back at the Contras, only ten times as worse. I personally guarantee it."

"Sniper Bomber is right on one thing," agreed Warlock Bomber, "but how can we be sure they won't kill us so easily?"

"I have an idea on how we can turn the tables," said Sniper Bomber, "and before anybody asks, I know just how to do it. It is unfortunate the Crimson Stone has been utterly destroyed, but mark my words: we are not to let the incident occur again!"

As the days of hard labor went by, the leader of the Hate Bombers was updating the ship's computer's log entry time after time...

_RED FALCON LOG No. 10.312.2_  
_JULY 31, 200X AD_  
_2230_  
_SNIPER BOMBER_

_July 31, 200X...it sure as hell had been around two weeks since we lost badly to Aaron, Ami, Blaze Bomber, and all of their friends - especially Bill Rizer and Lance Bean. Oh, how I despise those meddlesome Contras with a vengeance! We never imagined that even a pair of Bomber-children like Cheerful White and Cute Pink could assist in giving us so much trouble. It's unbelievable that they wrecked our plans, obliterated three of my fellow Hate Bombers, and killed Red Falcon at the same time! Worst of all, they destroyed Pandaemonium, formerly the Devil's castle of hell, and sent us careening into the Freezeflame Galaxy, leaving us with little to no power left to escape! Despite our efforts to repair our escape pod and convert it into an actual warship, it's freezing as hell. To quote Purple Basilisk: we go from being trapped in the underworld beneath the Earth's surface, to being stuck in this icy prison of a galaxy in outer space!_

_RED FALCON LOG No. 10.312.3_  
_AUGUST 1, 200X AD_  
_0915_  
_SNIPER BOMBER_

_I still remember the olden days, where we, the Hate Bombers, were a gruesome foursome to those who opposed us. Arctic Bomber, Mistress of the Cold...Axe Bomber, Heavy-Duty Chopper...Blaze Bomber, Pyro-Maniacal Fiend...and finally, me - Sniper Bomber, King of the Snipers. We were an unstoppable force that served Red Falcon as his loyal generals, even to this day. Our old bodies were destroyed centuries ago, leaving our souls trapped in the netherworld until now. We arose again in our new Bomberman-like bodies, taking on the title of "Hate Bombers." Still, that didn't save us from being killed by Bill Rizer and Lance Bean...though I am aware Blaze wasn't anything like us to begin with. I just know I should've killed him myself while I had the chance before the Contras eventually discovered the truth about his well being! But, I digress..._

_RED FALCON LOG No. 10.312.4_  
_AUGUST 1, 200X AD_  
_1210_  
_SNIPER BOMBER_

_Five years have now passed since we started - and lost - the Alien Wars against the Earthers. We have a new breed of enemies to deal with besides Bill and Lance: Aaron, Ami, Wario, Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, Cheerful White, and even Cute Pink. Even that 9-Volt kid's mother got in the act of saving their skins just before we killed them when they were down at the ruins of Castlevania - in Romania, no less. And when they recovered from their injuries, they attacked us at Pandaemonium, severed our offer to make them our new followers with the Crimson Stone, and killed Lord Red Falcon in the end! As for Arctic Bomber, she left the Red Falcon Empire after having been fired from the Hate Bombers, for she wished to pursue her own goal. What her goal is, we don't know for sure, but it doesn't matter, as she was useless due to her overwhelming immaturity and sick obsession with making Aaron her "slave boy." Because of this, the Hate Bombers were pretty much crippled, leaving only me, Axe Bomber, Volcano Bomber, and Metamorph Bomber..._

Another hour since Sniper Bomber's recent log entry, the escape pod was finally repaired and converted into an actual warship. Sniper and Purple Basilisk, with the Chaotic Bombers at their side, departed the Freezeflame Galaxy without delay and began the search for the worst kind of scum in the galaxy to add to their crippled army.

_RED FALCON LOG No. 10.312.5_  
_AUGUST 1, 200X AD_  
_1400_  
_SNIPER BOMBER_

_We were finally in luck. We managed to fix our escape pod, mostly by modifying it into a warship of our own. We were very fortunate to have downloaded Red Falcon's DNA onto this computer in case of emergency. Right now, we began working on the resurrection of my second-in-command, Axe Bomber. He will be back in full power in a matter of hours. Of course, the revival of our Lord Red Falcon is another story, but our main priority is finding the deadliest of intergalactic warriors worthy of joining our cause in dominating the forsaken planet Earth._

A few hours since Sniper Bomber's latest log entry had passed. The Red Falcon Empire wasted no time reviving Axe Bomber, while debating as to whether they should also do the same for Volcano Bomber or wait until later. They had other plans, for they received intel about a certain group of alien cyborgs that were destroyed years ago, prior to the Alien Wars.

"According to what we've researched so far," Purple Basilisk explained, "there lies a group of alien Bombermen on a small junk planet, all dead as an old flashlight battery. In other words, they were decimated long ago by the same brat, Cheerful White, whom we crossed swords with before. But he didn't do it alone; he was accompanied by Cool Black, said to be his former rival this day."

Warlock Bomber added, "These alien Bombermen go by the title 'Five Dastardly Bombers'. It's said that an alien entity named Bagular created them not long before he and said creations were wiped out by White and Black. Now, our moment of triumph is here! Once we revive the Five Dastardly Bombers and then regain our full power, we'll ensure total victory!"

Axe Bomber had doubts about this plan. "But we can't just march all over the planet! Aaron and his friends will kill us in minutes! Seriously, they're no slouches, y'know!"

"Rest assured," said Sniper Bomber, "this won't happen again!"

"But how?! Their Contra pals still got those holy weapons to back them up! They just know we're gonna come back for them!"

"With all due respect, Axe Bomber, you're wrong. What we're planning to do will surely turn the tables in our favor. All in good time..."

_RED FALCON LOG No. 10.312.6_  
_AUGUST 1, 200X AD_  
_2140_  
_SNIPER BOMBER_

_Hours after Axe Bomber's revival, and recuperating from our past failures and defeats, we departed for a small junk planet. On the way, we learned from intel that the planet contained a large pile of wrecked machinery, along with defective or destroyed robots. However, buried somewhere within the planet lies five strange, space helmets with an antenna on top of each. They are said to have belonged to a group of alien Bombermen, known as the "Five Dastardly Bombers." Hoping they could be of help to our plans on revenge, we departed without hesitation. If what Purple Basilisk mentioned is true, they shall make fine additions to the Red Falcon Empire without fail._

"So this definitely _is_ the space junk planet Bagular visited one time, isn't it?" Trigger Bomber questioned.

"Yes," answered Warlock Bomber, eyeing the five helmets that belonged to the dead Dastardly Bombers. "He returned his Five Dastardly Bombers to tip-top shape long ago. And what a surprise that their helmets survived, but not their bodies. I think we know just what to do!"

Purple Basilisk grinned deviously. "We'll not only restore them, but reprogram them to serve us, the new-and-improved Red Falcon Empire! Sooner or later, Red Falcon will return to us!"

_RED FALCON LOG No. 10.312.7_  
_AUGUST 2, 200X AD_  
_0025_  
_SNIPER BOMBER_

_As it turned out, the five aliens we salvaged - and resurrected - ARE the Five Dastardly Bombers, with the help of Red Falcon's DNA. I guess Purple Basilisk was in the right after all: according to our warship's data, the Five Dastardly Bombers were created by an alien entity known as Bagular. Two years ago - and three years after the Alien Wars - he sent them to conquer Cheerful White's homeworld, Planet Bomber, and do away with his existence if necessary. Unfortunately, the attempted invasion ended in failure, resulting in the Five Dastardly Bombers' deaths. One month later, Bagular stepped out of the shadows and revived the Bombers himself, in order to mount another invasion; this time, towards 5 planetoids, not far from the Bomber planet. Once again, the invasion ended in failure as Cheerful White and former rival Cool Black, joined forces as they killed the Five Dastardly Bombers again, along with Bagular himself for good. As the years went by, the Bomber planet was at peace despite Bagular's occasional returns from the dead. Now, thanks to our efforts, the Five Dastardly Bombers are whole again - no longer affiliated with Bagular, but rather Red Falcon. I'll be supervising them personally as we get things ready for another invasion on Earth..._

"Yes...yeeess...YEEEESSS!" exclaimed Purple Basilisk. "Arise, Five Dastardly Bombers! Return to us!"

Axe Bomber, on the other hand, suspected something odd about one of the five fiendish Bombers. "Hey, wait a sec...isn't that _her_? I thought..."

"Just as I surmised," said Sniper Bomber, "there does exist an evil version of White's best friend after all."

_RED FALCON LOG No. 10.312.8_  
_AUGUST 2, 200X AD_  
_0100_  
_SNIPER BOMBER_

_The confusions were among us, if not entirely. The "Pretty Bomber" we saw was right in front of us, alongside her other male comrades of the Five Dastardly Bombers. Last we checked, Pretty Bomber (or rather "Cute Pink", in this case) was on the Earthers' side. It turned out not a moment too soon, that there actually exists an evil version of her, whom we just revived along with Magnet Bomber, Golem Bomber, Brain Bomber, and Plasma Bomber. We even did a scan on both the good and evil versions of her with our warship's database, and the results came positive. Although both wear pink skirts and gloves (not to mention a yellow neckerchief), the Pretty Bomber on the good side is a human like Cheerful White and Cool Black are, and goes by Cute Pink. Her eye color is red; her face looks round with her helmet on; her boots are red; and most of all, she's kind-hearted, helpful, strong, and also one of 9-Volt's bodyguards along with his girlfriend, Phoebe._

_Now, the Pretty Bomber we have on our side - in this case, evil - looks a little familiar, albeit a few differences that distinguish her from the goody-two-shoes Bomber-girl White and Black have on their side. Her eye color is blue; her boots are pink; and her face is square with her helmet on, despite being slightly-slanted as with the other Dastardly Bombers and all five of Purple Basilisk's Chaotic Bombers. Finally, she is evil, and knows damn well how to put on a show by relying on her charm to confuse and trap foes. This gave us an idea as we are about to mount a new invasion on Earth: we kidnap goody-two-shoes Cute Pink, and replace her with evil her, thus making all the foolish Earthers think she's their real friend turned evil! Death to Aaron, Ami, Bill, and Lance! Death to all their good friends who helped cripple our plans! Glory to the Red Falcon Empire, the Five Dastardly Bombers, and the Hate Bombers!_

[End BGM]

* * *

The Red Falcon Empire immediately jumped into hyperspace from within their large warship, all the way to Earth without delay. Their plan went well for the next two or so weeks, for not even Earth's military bases could even scratch Red Falcon's army of killing machines. During their campaign to instigate a World War III, Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber turned their attention towards Diamond City on August 10, 20XX. Wario, Mona, 9-Volt, 18-Volt, Phoebe, Kat, Ana, Cheerful White, Cute Pink, Bill, Lance, Blaze Bomber, Ami, and I were visiting Pearl Square, accompanied by five of White and Pink's close friends from Planet Bomber: Cool Black (formerly White's rival), Acrobat Aqua, and even "Team Gold" themselves: Giant Gold, Bookworm Green, and Kid Blue. However, our peaceful visit was cut short when all of a sudden...

[Alert BGM: Dark Terror (Advance Wars: Dual Strike)]

"Guess who's back? The Mighty Axe King and Heavy-Duty Chopper, Axe Bomber, that's who!" The heavyset of the Hate Bombers teleported in alongside Sniper Bomber.

"You thought you got rid of all of us forever?" taunted Sniper. "Well, too bad!"

Wario chuckled, as if he were not intimidated one bit. "Coming back for more beatings, I see!"

"You alien scumbags never learn!" added Bill.

Lance joined in. "Let's do this, guys!"

"I'm with you, Bill and Lance!" Ami acknowledged. "Don't forget our training, Aaron."

"Don't worry, Ami," I said. "On this day, we swear to protect the innocent and uphold the law!" We got out our weapons to fend off the two Hate Bombers. Surprisingly, none of our strongest attacks even laid a dent...

"What?! I'm not doing any damage...?"

"Me neither! What's going on?"

Blaze Bomber stepped in front of me and Ami. "Let me try!" He unleashed a jet of flame from both his hands at the hostile attackers, only to no avail as Sniper and Axe still didn't feel anything!

"Well? Got anymore tricks up your sleeves?" Sniper Bomber snickered maliciously.

"This time, we were ready for you," boasted Axe Bomber. "We knew you'd come out fighting strong!"

Sniper Bomber aimed his gun arm directly at us. "In other words, we came prepared. Now, kiss your asses goodbye!" In just seconds, he and Axe Bomber wailed on us without mercy. While they didn't intend on killing us, they had easily succeeded in subduing us for their reinforcements to take us all prisoner.

[End BGM]

As we passed out, I could only express my grief weakly. "What...? My...my Contra Rifle has no effect...on them..."

"Same with...my bombs..." Ami croaked.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

With our heroes taken prisoner, it seemed as if there was no hope this time. Only by sheer luck can they, let alone quite a few, escape alive...


	3. The break out!

Everybody's been taken prisoner, but don't count the Four Contras out yet...

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 2: The break out!

[Stage BGM: Moonlit Army (Contra: Hard Corps)]

The following weeks had passed since we lost to Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber. We were supposed to have done damage to them, let alone Sniper Bomber, by now. But instead, it seemed as if they became invincible; they knocked us all out in one fell swoop. When I woke up, I found myself chained to an uncomfortable folding chair...in a prison cell. To my right was a calendar mounted on a wall, with a writing on the last week of this month; it was now August 28, officially five years since the Alien Wars. Taking a closer look, the writing on the calendar read that it was time for my interrogation. Then I looked up front, eyeing two of Red Falcon's alien soldiers poised to interrogate me. One of them was doing all the talking, while the other stood still, as if to observe the process of interrogating prisoners.

"Heh heh heh..." the interrogating soldier began, "well, if it ain't Aaron, one of the so-called Four Contras!"

"What've you done with my friends, much less Ami, Bill, and Lance, for that matter?!" I was quickly cut off by the soldier, who merely poked my neck with his finger.

"We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you." The enemy soldier chuckled deviously at his own remark. "What, you were expecting me to say something else? No matter, because you and your fellow Contras will end up dead anyway. You still wanna know?"

I muttered in response, "Damn right I do..."

The interrogator taunted me again. "Heh heh heh...you've got guts, mister. But who cares? We'll just have to show you what happens when people like you defy our Lord Red Falcon!"

I thought momentarily, about how an unfortunate incident like our losing battle against the two Hate Bombers had happened. "I don't understand...we should've been able to inflict damage on Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber by now! We had the holy power within our weapons...it's supposed to penetrate dark forces."

The interrogating soldier just laughed at me remorselessly. "You don't get it, do you? We saw Sniper Bomber's reports: you and your friends were able to destroy Lord Red Falcon and his men, let alone inside the hellish Pandaemonium up in outer space, because your holy power was the Crimson Stone's bane. But we no longer need such an ancient gem, for we found ourselves an even stronger source to render all weapons - even your pathetic holy gadgets - useless! Speaking of holy gadgets, you're probably wondering how we could have taken them away without hurting ourselves since no force of darkness can dare touch them. The solution was simple, actually: we forced some captive civilians to take them away, or else we waste them. Just face it: without your fancy gun or that pink-haired girl's bombs, you'll never be that good again!"

The other soldier, still quiet, clasped the interrogator's mouth shut with one hand, using the other to stab him in the back with a combat knife, then shot him to death with a rifle before revealing himself to me as a human police officer. In fact, he was holding my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch.

"I'm here to help you, Aaron," he explained. "I heard all about you along with your friends and the WarioWare staff. I am Sergeant Billy 'Droidman' Hill, undercover cop on behalf of the Diamond Police." He took the dead interrogator's keys, undid the chains around me, and handed me my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch. "C'mon! Their reinforcements will arrive soon!"

"What about my best friend, Ami?" I questioned with concern.

"The cute-half of the famous Puffy AmiYumi? She's in grave danger," replied Sgt. Hill. "but I'll take you to her. We have to hurry before the bad guys spot us."

* * *

As we left the cell, Sgt. Hill explained to me what had been going on since I was taken prisoner. Between August 10 and now, Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber led their men to kill people and wreck some buildings. The WarioWare staff, on the other hand, were unharmed but still taken prisoner. On top of that, all of my friends (along with Ami's bandmates of Puffy AmiYumi) were imprisoned in many enemy bases built all over the world. Meanwhile, the two remaining Hate Bombers gave our city to one of the Five Dastardly Bombers, known as Magnet Bomber. I was shocked to hear about the Bombers' return, but sadly, it was true. The Red Falcon Empire had indeed brought them back to life.

With us imprisoned, Magnet Bomber killed the mayor of Diamond City, and took complete control of it without delay. Many survivors were then forced into hard labor: building a lot of statues of himself all over the streets and Pearl Square. He must want to build a dynasty of his own with that kind of labor, and eventually rename our fair city as Magnet Metropolis. Those unworthy of serving him against their will are being sentenced to death at no more than five prison camps, including the one Ami and I were trapped in. Bill and Lance are said to be held prisoner at the building called MagnetBase, but that was the least of our concern right now. The important thing was setting me and Ami free, even at the expense of Sgt. Hill's life. Just then, we heard footsteps approaching.

"Crap! They know we're here. Quickly, hide in the sewers below! You've got to find Ami and set her free! It's all up to you!"

I gasped quietly, worried about the sacrifice he was about to make. "But I can't just leave you to die!"

"I'm sorry, but we must part ways." The undercover cop sighed painfully, but continued, "If I don't make it, then I've done my duty, because I want you and Ami to live. Free the prisoners in this death camp first, then reunite with Bill and Lance if you find them. Now go save us all." He handed me the keys for the interrogation room Ami was kept in.

"...Okay." With that said, I immediately opened the manhole, and went underground before closing it, only seconds before the reinforcements showed up.

"So," said an enemy guard, "we have a spy in our midst! You must have seen the man known as Aaron, leader of those so-called Four Contras..."

The other guard demanded, "Where did he go?"

But the undercover sergeant stood silent, so as to not give away my presence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Tell us where he is!"

"I'm serious! I haven't a-" Before Sgt. Hill could finish, the enemy guards cocked their AK-47 machine guns. "Wait! No!"

The guards killed him without delay, and began alerting all of the alien soldiers. "Guards! We have a runaway prisoner, thanks to this undercover cop we shot! Find him, and kill him!"

_Oh, crap!_ I thought._ They might kill poor Ami along the way! I've gotta save her!_

I held onto my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch, as I walked carefully along the sewers. Running would alert the guards with the splashing sounds, and eventually lead to my inevitable death. Fortunately, though, Penny modified Ami's Bomberman Watch weeks ago with a "compass" feature, in which if lost or stolen, it would lead me back to its owner (in that case, Ami). Due to its holy power, if an evil-hearted being attempted to use it in any way, it would stun him or her with an electric shock. Eventually, I followed the watch's "compass", got out of the sewers, and found Ami's cell. Lucky for me, it was next door to the shower room. I made sure there were no guards in sight, and stealthily cleaned myself - while still in my clothes - in the shower. Once I was done, I left the water on, wiped myself dry with a towel, and threw it into the shower to make it look like one of the guards dropped the towel while taking his shower. Knowing my cover would not last very long, I went back to Ami's cell without delay, and unlocked the door with the key Sgt. Hill swiped from the alien interrogator earlier. I closed the door upon entry, and saw Ami being chained to the folding chair; her mouth was even covered with duct tape.

[End BGM]

"Ami! Hang on, I'm gonna set you free in a jiffy." I undid the chains around her, before removing the duct tape from her mouth.

"_Domo arigato_, Aaron-kun! Now we can bust on outta here!" Ami hugged me tightly, and took back her Bomberman Watch to activate it.

"I don't know if our weapons will work against the guards on our way out. We saw what happened with Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber nearly a month ago."

Ami nodded. "That may be so, but we never know until we try."

* * *

[Escape BGM: Bombing Mission (Final Fantasy VII)]

_Mission 1A: The break out_  
_Aaron and Ami Onuki of the "Four Contras" suspected in their escape attempt from one of Magnet Bomber's five death camps. With Sergeant Billy "Droidman" Hill dead, it was all up to them to find Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, destroy Magnet Bomber, and free Diamond City._  
_August 28, 20XX_  
_3:00 PM_

Before we could arm ourselves for the escape, the same guards that shot Sgt. Hill came in.

"There's our runaway prisoner!"

"He's set the girl free! Kill them bef-"

We kicked the alien soldiers in the crotches, and swiped their AK-47s to return fire. "Turning their own weapons against them does work wonders," said Ami. "Now let's blow this door open!" She threw her Fire Bomb at the cell door, blowing it off its hinges; we jumped through the blast in dramatic fashion, while a blaring klaxon went off.

"FREEDOM!" I bellowed.

"Let's take 'em together!" Ami added.

Just then, an intercom speaker sounded over the blaring klaxon. _The prisoners have escaped! Kill them! KILL THEM ALL!_

The RF soldiers charged forth, yelling in unison, "Glory to Lord Red Falcon!"

"We are Contras!" Ami and I shouted simultaneously.

In just seconds, the entire prison camp erupted into a firefight between the two of us, and Red Falcon's soldiers. We did not stop for a moment to figure out whose voice it was on the death camp's loudspeakers, as we had to stay focused on saving ourselves firsthand. This was unlike our previous adventures, if not the one that took place inside Pandaemonium. In fact, this wasn't even _Call of Duty_ either, where player characters possess Wolverine-like healing powers. This was real life, for in the midst of a war zone, one must know when to open fire, and when to take cover. In our case, the RF soldiers will kill us without delay, and absolutely no remorse whatsoever. As far as we know, they are like cold, soulless, killing machines who know no duty, morals, or even fear; rather, they know evil. During our break out, Ami tried throwing one of her Fire Bombs at the RF soldiers, incinerating them in the blast instantly.

"Aaron," she called, "our holy-powered weapons can _still_ work - just not on the evil Bomberman-like androids we've ever faced before!" That's when we put away the AK-47s, and switched to using our Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch. I immediately powered on my gun's 3-hit barrier system to provide temporary protection, until we could leave the death camp and stop by Crygor Labs for help.

"No alien bastard kills the good mayor of Diamond City and gets away with it!" I shouted.

"We'll worry about who killed him later," said Ami. "Right now, we must free the prisoners, and destroy this death camp!"

Shortly after getting closer to the death camp's control room, the entrance was blocked by three RF soldiers on exosuit cargo-loaders. Chances are, their mechs were probably reinforced just like the Hate Bombers are, so we switched back to the AK-47s and shot at them. The damage was done just a bit, but I had a better idea. With careful approach, we swerved around the blowtorches, pulled the RF soldiers out of their cargo-loaders, and threw them across the hallway before hijacking the cargo-loaders in the end. Using the pincer-like claws as makeshift fists, we busted down the gate to the control room, where the mastermind of this death camp was hiding.

"There's the so-called king of 'Magnet Metropolis'!" I pointed at just the guy in the center.

"Magnet Bomber," said Ami, "one of the Five Dastardly Bombers!"

The blue-clad fiend yelped in surprise. "AAH! Busted! I don't know how you got here, but I'm not letting you leave this place alive! We now serve the mighty Lord Red Falcon, thanks to master Purple Basilisk's efforts in our resurrection!" He furiously typed in a bunch of keys, and pulled the big red lever to his right, setting off another blaring klaxon. Then he continued, "Let's see you save your people of Diamond City now! Your hometown belongs to me! So long, suckers! Ah, ha ha ha ha HAAA!"

With that said, he pressed a button on his seat, transforming it into a rocket ship. "Think of this as your final Test of Speed!" Then he blew up the controls with his Magnet Bombs, and flew off through the roof.

"Dammit!" I cursed. "He's totaled the controls!"

"Not to mention triggered the self-destruct mechanism!" Ami withheld an urge to pound the floor in frustration. "We can't let him beat us now!"

"I think we can still free the prisoners. Look!" I pointed at the emergency switch that wasn't destroyed.

"Maybe this controls all the cell doors! Good thinking, Aaron!"

We got off the exosuit cargo-loaders and pulled the emergency switch, unlocking and opening all of the cell doors in the death camp. Every prisoner immediately ran outside their cells, each yelling "FREEDOM!" along the way. They swiped the RF soldiers' AK-47s and began returning fire without delay, albeit a few casualties in the process. Ami and I eventually joined the fight, as we led the citizens to the exit. As soon as we reached the exit, Ami blew the gates open with her pumped-up Fire Bomb. With less than 30 seconds left to spare, we evacuated every last prisoner, and followed them afterwards to a minimum safe distance. The moment we stopped to catch our breath, the death camp exploded in a large ball of fire.

[End BGM]  
[Victory BGM: Stage Clear (Contra 4)]

"We've escaped from certain death!" I said.

"And freed just about every civilian in there!" Ami added.

[End BGM]

* * *

Knowing Magnet Bomber would call in for more reinforcements from within the MagnetBase, we walked the civilians all the way to Crygor Labs, where they will be safe until we free Diamond City of Magnet Bomber's cruel reign. 45 minutes since Sgt. Hill did his part to set us free, we visited Crygor Labs to get help. Dr. Crygor, Mike, and Blaze Bomber were not present, but fortunately, Penny Crygor was. She was glad to hear we got out of the death camp alive.

[Reunion BGM: Dr. Light's Lab (Mega Man 8)]

"Aaron! Ami! I was worried you might've died at one of those five death camps." She hugged us warmly.

"Don't worry, Penny," I said. "We've been through worse...and I guess you could say we cheated death once more."

"Right now," Ami began, "we need your help. When we fought Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber two days back, we couldn't even dent through their armor-like bodies."

"Yeah. I always thought for sure our weapons' holy power could pierce the forces of darkness, but it seems Sniper Bomber's reports came true after all...at least that's what the alien soldier said before he tried to kill me."

"But aside from that, we couldn't even do any damage to the two Hate Bombers. Wasn't holy power from my bombs and Aaron's Contra Rifle supposed to work wonders?"

Penny thought momentarily. "It should be, but the problem was that they've gotten better defense now. Over the last couple weeks, I've analyzed whatever those alien robots had, that kept your holy-powered weapons from doing anything, even if they weren't heavily-armored. As it turned out, they've all been reinforced with alien material which render our weapons useless. Purple Basilisk must have found it out, and made use of it to install on all the alien robots, let alone the Hate Bombers and the Five Dastardly Bombers."

The granddaughter of Dr. Crygor turned on the computer, and showed us the results. "According to my analysis, it's titanium. However, this kind of titanium is not of our world. It appeared to have been mined from a distant planet in space. They call it the Super Titanium alloy, which is so durable, not even the strongest armor-piercing weapons on our planet can penetrate it. Anyway, the Red Falcon Empire had been doing a lot of damage over the weeks, since the second day of August. When they came to Diamond City, we were captured and separated all over the world, but luckily, Blaze Bomber was able to get me to safety despite the damages done to him."

"I see. Then...what else happened?" I wondered.

"After you were imprisoned, Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber gave control of our city to Magnet Bomber, one of the Five Dastardly Bombers. It's possible they, too, were reinforced just like the Hate Bombers are. Magnet wasted no time killing the mayor of our fair city, while his men built the five death camps as quick as they could. In such a short time, he became dictator from within the mayor's office, and enslaved many of us to his service."

"Sergeant Billy 'Droidman' Hill, the undercover officer on behalf of the Diamond Police, told me just that before the prison guards killed him. Go on."

"Magnet would then have Diamond City renamed Magnet Metropolis, or 'Magnetropolis' for short, with statues of himself littered all over the streets and our fair Pearl Square!" Penny dreaded the thought of Magnet Bomber ruling all of Diamond City with an iron fist.

"Unless we can stop him!" Ami acknowledged. "But...how?"

Penny had an idea. "Luckily, Blaze Bomber and I managed to find and keep an Invincibility Star for just such an occasion. Thanks to my detailed analysis, we now know the one thing that can penetrate the Super Titanium alloy! With careful enough experimentation, I've converted it into Star energy, which should do the trick! Here, give me your Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch, so I can fuse the Star with the holy power inside..."

[End BGM]

And so, we did as told; Penny worked for about 15-20 minutes infusing the Star energy within our holy-powered weapons. Afterwards, we were finally given the one and only thing capable of penetrating through Super Titanium alloy. On top of that, our defenses were upgraded - in which both my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch have the barrier system that does not take 3 hits, but rather 5 hits now. We both thanked Penny for a job well done.

[Tutorial BGM: Navi Customizer (Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS)]

"It works!" Penny cheered. "Now the two of you have better protection from mortal damage, along with something super special!"

"What is it?" I questioned.

Penny explained, "The ability for your barrier systems to take up to 30 hits for you! But, this requires using a lot of energy like with your Final Smashes. Once you activate that super ability, they'll last until you take 30 hits; afterwards, they have to shut down for 30 minutes to recharge. On the positive side, that doesn't affect your weapons themselves. Still, even with that on, don't get too carried away. It's awfully easy to lose track of how many more hits they can take before wearing off. I strongly urge you to use them in the most dire situations."

"In other words," I said, "only as a last resort. Can we still use our Final Smashes, even with our 30-hit barriers on?"

"No, and that goes double for the recharging process. Whether you've used your Final Smash or the 30-hit barrier system, they still have to recharge before you can even utilize the Smash Ball's power again. It's a fail-safe mechanism I built in to prevent overcharging, which could cause your Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch to explode."

Then Ami asked, "What about the standard 5-hit barriers?"

"Can't do it either," answered Penny. "Fail-safe mechanism."

Ami nodded. "Okay. We'll keep that in mind, especially during intense situations. How do we activate our super barriers?"

"The two of you, along with your Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch, must be in perfect balance. Focus deeply, and say the following words after me. Aaron: up, up, down, down." We all paused momentarily to gather up, and clear our minds of anything around either of us.

"Up, up, down, down."

"Ami: left, right, left, right."

"Left, right, left, right."

"And together: B, A, Select, Start!"

Ami and I said as instructed, "B, A, Select, Start!"

In just seconds, our Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch responded by providing us the 30-hit protection with their improved barrier systems. Pondering this fact, we recognized that as the Konami Code for getting 30 lives in _Contra_ on the NES! Though the code first appeared in the NES version of _Gradius_, it was famous for being the 30 lives code in _Contra_. Like with the normal 3-hit barrier (now upgraded to take 5 hits), the force fields themselves were invisible to the naked eye. One last thing Penny told us, was that only the pure of heart who carries the Contra bloodline can utilize the magic within our Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch. Afterwards, we were then ready to save our friends, the world, and ourselves. Before we left, we gave the two AK-47 machine guns to the rescued prisoners for them to use, just in case Magnet Bomber's reinforcements busted on in while we're out. The time had come to free Diamond City of Magnet Bomber's reign of terror, and even rescue Bill and Lance while we're at it.

Penny had but one last thing to say: "If you recover Bill and Lance's M16 machine guns, be sure to bring them back here so I can upgrade them like with your Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch. Good luck, and be careful!"

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The battle to free Diamond City has begun, but Bill and Lance are still held prisoner at MagnetBase. Can the Four Contras reunite with one another?


	4. Diamond City under siege

Desperate to keep his personal kingdom afloat, Magnet Bomber sends everyone of his minions available to kill two of the Four Contras...

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Diamond City under siege

[Stage BGM: It's Time for Revenge (Contra ReBirth)]

_Mission 1B: The streets of Diamond City_  
_Magnet Bomber of the Five Dastardly Bombers, known to have killed the mayor of Diamond City._  
_Aaron and Ami Onuki of the "Four Contras" storm the streets to hunt down the mayor's killer._  
_August 28, 20XX_  
_4:10 PM_

"Damn," I muttered, "those alien bastards are gonna pay for desecrating our fair city!"

"Malevolent forces are gathering," said Ami, "but we benevolent ones aren't letting them claim another innocent!"

Just then, Penny called Ami on her cell phone. "Ami, thank goodness I was able to contact you in time. I _completely_ forgot to tell you that I recently added some extra arsenal to your Bomberman Watch."

"Extra arsenal?" Ami asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've taken the time to install three additional kinds of bombs: the Sleep Bomb, and the Flash Bomb...and last but not least, the Wind Bomb. They should be useful along with your Fire, Ice, and Thunder Bombs."

Ami nodded. "Sounds awesome. Thanks, Penny. Well, I hope Yumi and the others are alright, though I've spent more time with Aaron, Bill, and Lance lately."

"I'm sure they're all okay," said Penny. "but don't worry too much. You and Aaron have two of your fellow comrades to rescue. Anyway, I'll try to send in a power-up pod now and then for both of you to add a weapon to your Contra Rifle. Good luck, but don't die this time."

After the quick phone call, we started our next mission by trekking the suspension bridge, connected between Crygor Labs and Diamond City. A bunch of Red Falcon's soldiers, along with the Reapers (the robots from _Contra 4_) and even evil-looking Bomberman clones that come in a variety of colors, were headed our way. The aliens gave it their all, while we blasted them away with our Star-powered weapons. Penny was right after all: only Star energy is capable of penetrating through the Super Titanium alloy. We didn't care if we got shot or blown up, since we activated our 30-hit barriers...of course, we needed to be careful not to get too carried away, as it's easy to lose track of how many hits out of a maximum 30 our barriers took so far. Sooner or later, we reached the end of the bridge, and back into Diamond City itself. A fortress wall came out from an open hatch to attack us in its basic manner: a few snipers shooting from the top, and two mounted cannons firing explosive shells downwards. Not surprisingly, the red core was showing on the bottom. Although I didn't pick up any useful power-ups for my Contra Rifle yet, we had no trouble blowing up the core to dismantle the wall itself.

"This sure brings back memories of _Contra III: The Alien Wars_," I commented, "and even _Contra ReBirth_."

"No argument there," agreed Ami. "The fortress walls suck at killing us, although there is one that actually puts up a bit of a fight in _Contra 4_. Speaking of which, I wonder why the Super Titanium alloy can only be damaged by Star energy..."

"We'll worry about that when we free Diamond City from Magnet Bomber's grasp. C'mon."

Ami and I moved on once more, taking care to watch out for Man-Faced Mutts nearby old garbage cans, for they had a habit of sneaking up on people from behind whenever they passed by. In fact, we saw no more than three of them, and let them chase us so Ami would stop them in their tracks with her Ice Bombs. And freeze the Man-Faced Mutts she did. Next came another group of RF soldiers, only this time, they're held from beneath the alien wasps to fly around - while shooting anyone they see. Luckily, Penny sent in a power-pod to fly by for us to shoot down, and gather the Spread Gun for my Contra Rifle. Even with the 30-hit barrier system on, the "get-hit-once-and-lose-a-power-up" restriction still applied here, but I wasn't too worried. I took down the RF soldiers and alien wasps, while Ami blew up the statues of Magnet Bomber with her Fire Bombs. Later, we passed by Pearl Square, where we saw many people being pushed around by the alien slave-drivers.

"Move it, you slaves!" The first slave-driver lashed out his whip repeatedly. "You don't wanna end up back at the death camps to die, do ya?!"

"The Grand Poo-bah of all Magnets wants more statues of himself!" The other slave-driver laughed maniacally. "More! MOOORRREEE!"

Just then, I interrupted them. "Not so fast, punks!"

The two slave-drivers yelped in surprise, but immediately glared at us in return. "Eh?! Who dares disrupt our job at this fine moment?!"

"We do!" Ami shouted. "Leave the innocent civilians alone!"

"It's Aaron and Ami of those pesky Contras!" The alien slave-drivers threw away their whips and pulled out their AK-47 machine guns. "Kill them!"

The alien slave-drivers opened fire on us, scaring the civilians away from Pearl Square in panic. "Why do they always wanna do it the hard way?" asked Ami, as she electrified the attackers with her Thunder Bombs. The lightning immediately arced throughout their bodies, killing them in no later than 10 seconds. Once we were done, we wasted no time destroying the statues of Magnet Bomber before moving on once again. Another power-up pod was teleported here from Crygor Labs; I switched to the empty slot on my Contra Rifle before shooting down the pod. Inside was the Laser Beam, which I picked up before switching back to the Spread Gun.

"Man," I said, "that was intense so far, wasn't it?"

Ami wiped some sweat off her forehead. "Yeah! Good thing we had our 30-hit barriers on to protect us."

Suddenly, we were shot from behind, and eventually injured by oncoming bomb blasts! "Aack! Penny was right: it _is_ easy to lose track..." While I lost my Spread Gun, I still had my Laser Beam, which I used to take down the alien soldiers.

"Mm-hmm...and our 30-hit barriers have worn off! It's gonna take 30 minutes to recharge!" Ami blasted the evil-looking Bomberman clones with her Fire Bombs, thus enabling the both of us to move on once again.

* * *

But now that we were vulnerable to mortal damage again, we had to go back to taking cover every now and then. Plus, even when our weapons' barrier systems are finished recharging, we still needed to be in perfect balance. In other words, we can't be exhausted, wounded, or even sick. Even so, we could still turn on the 5-hit barrier systems; just not the 30-hit ones until we were in perfect balance again. Sooner or later, we reached the mayor's office building and as we feared, it was converted into MagnetBase. Suddenly, without warning, a giant-sized scorpion robot jumped down from above. Despite not being able to recognize the giant scorpion since there never was such a boss like it in the _Contra_ games, it's still a machine that must be dismantled if we are to get inside the alien base. Flanking it on both sides were the remaining Reapers, which we had to contend to before we could even inflict damage on the scorpion robot. Ami threw her pumped-up Thunder Bomb at the Reapers to disable them, while I got a shot at the scorpion robot's eyes. It screeched in agony, but then it raised its tail to counterattack with its laser. We took cover to get away from the laser beam, and returned fire once again.

"That thing's not going down!" shouted Ami.

However, I had an idea. "Maybe we can lure it to a power grid for the city!"

We then ran away from the scorpion robot, eventually getting it to chase us. Along the way, we came across a nearby Fire Department, and alerted its surviving members about our plan to destroy the alien machine...all while identifying ourselves. Then we rode with them inside a fire truck to the nearest fire hydrant possible - which was away from the power grid but just a little close by. As soon as the firefighters set up their water hose, the scorpion robot reached us.

"C'mon, you giant piece of scrap metal!" I shouted.

Ami followed suit. "Catch us if you can!"

The machine came closer and closer...and lunged forth at us. With precise timing, we jumped out of the way at the last second, just before it crashed into the power grid. It struggled to get out, while charging up its tail laser for another counterattack since we tricked it. "NOW!" I yelled. The firefighters wasted no time turning on the water, and the hose began spewing out the water with sheer force. They aimed it at the giant robot, thus resulting in a huge electrical surge. In less than a minute, the machine itself exploded into pieces of scrap metal.

"Whew...that was too close!" I wiped some sweat off my forehead. "Thanks, guys."

"You're welcome," said one of the firefighters. "You must save our fair city from Magnet Bomber!"

"I know," said Ami. "He already killed the mayor, but he's not getting away with it anymore!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Bloody Storm (Contra III: The Alien Wars)]

The firefighters gave us a ride back to MagnetBase, before returning to the Fire Department for safety. Since the power grid was damaged, the power went out for half the city, including the remaining death camps. The alien base, formerly the mayor's office building before Magnet Bomber took over, had a backup generator in the basement in case of emergency. Back to the matters at hand, we stepped on in to finish the job...but just before we opened up, something busted through the front entrance, leaving a big hole in its wake. As it walked through, we recognized it as the giant alien tortoise from _Contra III: The Alien Wars_.

"It's Slave Beast Taka!" I called out.

"He looks somewhat different," said Ami, "but he seems to resemble what he looked like in _Contra: Shattered Soldier_."

The beast roared, releasing wasps from a nest mounted on top of his shell, along with some maggots from the nest on the bottom. Then he marched closer to us as we blasted the wasps and maggots to bits. He roared again, but this time he spat out some pink energy bursts from his mouth. We were struck a bit, but still able to return fire by destroying the wasp and maggot nests, enraging Slave Beast Taka. Since he had no exposed heart as a weak point this time, we recalled once more from _Contra: Shattered Soldier_, in which the head is his vulnerable spot. Taking care to avoid more energy bursts along with a breath of fire from the beast's mouth, we pelted his head with gunshots and cartoon bombs until it was blown to guts, forcing him to turn around 180 degrees...

"Erm...Aaron?" Ami asked. "As much as I wanna recall from the game, I still shudder at the thought of Slave Beast Taka's second form." As she finished, the alien tortoise revealed a large, humanoid face as his backside, much to her disgust.

"I know his appearance is barf-inducing," I said, "but we can't let that stop us from...oh crap, he's gonna vomit! GET DOWN!"

We wasted not a second lying down flat on the ground just as Slave Beast Taka spewed out some acidic vomit from his mouth. We held our breaths for as long as we could, resisting the urge to vomit in disgust. As soon as the monster stopped barfing, we let go of our breaths and opened fire, only to remember a few seconds later that his second form's only vulnerable _while_ he's barfing. Then he snuffed out some wasps from his nose, which we easily swatted without getting stung. Afterwards, he did his vomit attack again, only now we knelt instead of going prone. Aiming carefully, we attacked his open mouth repeatedly until his entire body began leaking green blood. Groaning in agony, Slave Beast Taka dropped dead on the ground, granting us entry to MagnetBase at last.

[End BGM]

* * *

Meanwhile, we were unaware that we were being watched by Magnet Bomber from his lair. "'Step into my parlor,' said the spider to the fly!" cackled Magnet Bomber, while getting his troops in position. "They may have killed Slave Beast Taka, but they'll never reunite with Bill and Lance alive!"

[Stage BGM: Submarine Power Plant (Contra: Shattered Soldier)]

_Mission 1C: MagnetBase_  
_Bill Rizer and Lance Bean of the "Four Contras" are being held prisoner inside MagnetBase, formerly the mayor's office building._  
_Aaron and Ami Onuki are risking their lives to stop Magnet Bomber once and for all._  
_August 28, 20XX_  
_4:55 PM_

Down on the first floor just by the damaged entrance, I warned, "Ami, I have a feeling the bad guys are wising up. Chances are, they can and will throw grenades at us in order to flush us out of cover. If you hear one, either try to throw it back, or run like hell."

Ami nodded in response. "I hear you, Aaron. It's almost like _Call of Duty_, only this is real life."

I gave Penny a call on my cell phone to update her on our current situation. "Penny, this is Aaron. We've just cleared our way to MagnetBase."

"Good job," came Penny's voice. "Now all that's left is-" Suddenly, crashing sounds were heard over the speaker. "Oh my gosh! Blaze Bomber!"

"What? What happened?" I was immediately interrupted by a blaring alarm on our end. "Crap! They've gone to full alert! I have to go now!"

"Guys-" I hung up before Penny could finish her sentence.

Ami sighed painfully, and said, "They knew we were coming! Looks like we'll have to split up, so we can cover more ground. There should be an elevator on the other side. Aaron, you take the left, and I'll handle the right." She took a moment to pat my back softly, and continued, "See you on the other side, but don't get killed. We're still vulnerable to mortal damage for within the next half hour. Remember to keep your head down!"

With that said, we split up to take both sides of the first floor. We took cover from oncoming fire, and heard grenades being thrown at us. We got out of cover before the grenades blew our legs off, and Ami threw her Fire Bombs at the RF soldiers. Thanks to her Bomberman Watch, she was able to make good progress despite taking fire from the enemy shots. Meanwhile, I was having a little trouble on my end, as the RF soldiers shot me a few times (thus leaving my Contra Rifle with no power-ups). Luckily, though, I wasn't shot in the vital spot(s) in my body. One of the soldiers threw a grenade at me, but I picked it up to throw it back at them. With only 2 seconds to spare, I had saved myself from certain death. Eventually, Ami and I reunited on the opposite end of the building, having cleared both sides. There were broken shards of glass all over the floor, and boy, we were glad we're smart enough to wear our shoes at all times. We took the elevator to the building's top floor - the third floor - but it stopped at the second floor for the alien soldiers to ambush us. While they opened fire, we hid away from the open door until they stopped firing.

"Perhaps this isn't the best time to decide," said Ami, "but let's see what this Flash Bomb can do."

Before the alien soldiers threw a barrage of frag grenades, Ami threw her Flash Bomb through the open door to blind them with a flashing light, causing them to drop their now-live grenades in the process. I quickly hit the "door close" button repeatedly until the elevator door closed slightly before the grenades blew the alien soldiers to bits. Then I stopped pushing the button, and took the time to exchange some words with Ami.

"Whew! That was too close for comfort, wasn't it, Ami?"

"My sentiments exactly, Aaron. Now it's just us and Magnet Bomber."

As soon as the elevator stopped at the third floor, we expected more alien soldiers and evil clones of Bomberman to ambush us. Strangely, though, none of them were waiting outside the elevator door. We walked carefully across the hallway, until we reached the door to the mayor's office. Just as we kicked it open to step inside, we were suddenly blasted to the floor!

[End BGM]

"AAUUUUUGGGHH!" I screamed.

"OOUUUCH!" cried Ami.

[Alert BGM: Tower of Zot (Final Fantasy II/IV)]

Magnet Bomber got up from the mayor's chair to taunt us. "Ha ha ha ha ha! I knew you were coming for me again, so I prepared a surprise for you: laser-trip mines on the walls and ceiling by the door! I should've killed you back at that death camp instead of relying on the self-destruct mechanism...but I digress."

"Where...are...Bill and Lance...?" I asked weakly.

"Give up! I, Magnet Bomber, have already taken care of them! Oh wait, you meant to ask where I'm _keeping_ them, is that it? Well, they're over to your right, trapped in a cell behind the prison lasers!"

Bill called out to us, "Aaron! Ami!"

Lance added, "Don't go dying on us!"

"And don't even think about crawling away!" Magnet Bomber called in his soldiers, who came out from the other doors in the hallway to block our escape. "When I bring about the end of you 'Four Contras', I'll be promoted big time! No one will ever see me as a loser in my group again!"

"You don't scare us...you evil, communist, piece of crap..." Ami growled weakly, though her words caught me as somewhat uncharacteristic of her. She got out an Ice Bomb, and rolled it behind herself to freeze Magnet Bomber's minions before standing her ground.

"Ami..." I said, "...I've never seen you talk like that before..."

"It's heartless monsters like Magnet Bomber..." explained Ami, "...that get me riled up this way..."

Magnet Bomber scoffed at our attempts to get up. "What? Is that all you got? You can barely stand tall anymore!"

Ami gritted her teeth. "Maybe...but I'm not through yet! HRRRAAAGH!" With that, she tackled Magnet Bomber down with all her strength.

"She's not gonna hold him off for long!" warned Bill.

"Aaron!" Lance called. "Can you try and reach for the remote control on the mayor's table?"

I nodded weakly. "I...I'll try!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Dancing in Phantasmic Hell (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood)]

I tried my hardest to stand up, only to fall back down. After a few more tries, I managed to get up. I walked closer to the remote control while Ami was still fighting a losing battle against Magnet Bomber. When I was about to press the red button on the remote, Magnet swatted my hand and kicked me down. He stomped on my stomach a few times and went for my face, until Ami threw her Fire Bomb at him. He grew annoyed, and returned to taking her down once more. I was seething at the horrific sight of my best friend being injured time and again, but with my last ounce of strength, I reached for the remote control and pressed the button before passing out. The prison lasers were disabled, setting Bill and Lance free to kick Magnet Bomber away from Ami. They grabbed their M16 machine guns, and aimed at Magnet Bomber.

The blue-clad Dastardly Bomber cackled. "Fools! Your pitiful guns can't hurt me! We evil Bombermen have been reinforced with Super Titanium alloy!"

"Well, in that case..." said Bill, who borrowed my Contra Rifle while Lance picked up Ami's Bomberman Watch.

"Only the pure of heart can use those gadgets like with our guns," said Lance, "and we're the ones."

"Aaron and Ami, you've risked your lives to save us. Now we're gonna do the same for you."

"And that's by blowing Magnet Bomber into eternity!"

Magnet Bomber gloated again, "Just try and kill me, Contras! I dare you! I double-dog dare you to do so!"

He got out a dark Smash Ball, and busted it, transforming him into a metal dragon-like snake! He called himself Magnet Dragon, and literally opened fire by breathing flames at Bill and Lance. They immediately got me and Ami out of his line of fire and to safety, before turning their attention back to the tyrant himself. Bill shot his head off with my Contra Rifle, but it didn't kill him. Instead, his head was still active, and the body segments exploded like bombs. Bill and Lance were injured, but not as bad as Ami and I were. Meanwhile, Lance couldn't figure out how to work the Bomberman Watch, so he just used what Ami had earlier to finish the job: the Fire Bombs.

"Your friends' gadgets may stop me," said Magnet Bomber, "but you'll never stop Magnetropolis from replacing your Diamond City!"

Lance shouted, "Screw you, creepo! This city stays the way it was meant to be!"

Bill clamored next, "And you, along with the Hate Bombers and the other Dastardly Bombers, are not welcome here!"

Magnet Bomber grew his body segments again, only to be blasted off once more. Bill and Lance took cover from the explosions, and in the end, triumphed over him on behalf of me and Ami. As he was exploding, he quietly said something, but couldn't finish what he was saying before his head detonated in a blinding explosion. While Bill and Lance shielded their eyes, they barely saw something flying out of Magnet Bomber's exploding body.

[End BGM]

* * *

"Lance, what do you suppose he said before he blew up?" asked Bill.

"I don't know," replied Lance. "I couldn't hear anything over the explosion."

Ami and I woke up from being knocked unconscious. "Bill...Lance..." I said weakly.

"Thanks for saving us..." added Ami.

Bill smiled, before pulling me up for support. "You're welcome, but you two need medical attention. It's a miracle your injuries from the explosion aren't severe."

Lance did the same for Ami. "We'll take you back to Crygor Labs. Is anybody alright?"

Ami answered, "Penny is..."

"I see. I guess she's the only one who escaped capture, but at the very least, the Four Contras are together again. C'mon..."

Bill and Lance held me and Ami by placing our arms around their shoulders, gave back our Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch, and disposed of the remaining, frozen alien soldiers. Then they walked us all the way back to the first floor and outside the now-defunct MagnetBase, where Penny and Blaze Bomber waited in their vehicle for our safe return. Accompanying them were Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink...

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Magnet Bomber's reign over Diamond City is no more, but it's all up to Bill and Lance to pick up the slack for the time being.


	5. Journey to the polluted Rio beach

Diamond City was free at last, but four more Dastardly Bombers are still alive, each more powerful than Magnet Bomber...

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Journey to the polluted Rio beach

With Magnet Bomber dead, and the news broadcast all over Diamond City, the remaining RF soldiers cowered and attempted to set all of their death camps to self-destruct, but are unable to do so. The main reason, not because of the city's power grid being damaged, was that Magnet Bomber's long-distance power generator was destroyed by Bill and Lance at the now-defunct MagnetBase, after helping me and Ami kill Magnet Bomber. The generator itself (and not the one meant for the mayor's office building) was designed only to keep Magnet's death camps up and running, in case of a power outage. Now that his evil plans for a personal metropolis of his own had been crushed, the prisoners were free to drive out the rest of his non-robotic men, with a couple of our close friends leading the way to freedom. Sooner or later, all the death camps were shut down, with only a few RF soldiers fleeing in cowardice to wherever the other Dastardly Bombers may be hiding...

...Or, so our close friends had told me and Ami when we woke up on our medic beds at Crygor Labs. The first people we saw were Mona, 9-Volt, and Phoebe, before turning our attention towards Bill, Lance, Penny, and Blaze Bomber. On top of that, we had been unconscious for over an hour since we were nearly killed by Magnet Bomber's laser-trip mines; the clock's time read 6:30 PM.

[Meeting BGM: Dr. Light's Lab (Mega Man 7)]

"Ah, thank goodness you're alive," said Blaze Bomber. "We were worried you might never wake up!"

I replied albeit weakly, "Blaze Bomber...and even three of our close friends..."

"You're all okay..." Ami finished.

"Yeah," said Mona. "We were able to hold our ground the best we could. When you destroyed Magnet Bomber and his personal power generator, his death camps were permanently shut down."

"We all escaped to freedom," explained 9-Volt, with Phoebe's help, "and that's when Penny and Blaze Bomber picked us up...but what about the others?"

Bill answered, "We've yet to hear from them. Magnet Bomber told me and Lance that they were taken prisoner all around the world, despite gloating about how he did all this by himself."

"Aaron and Ami risked their lives to free us," chimed Lance, "and we returned the favor by killing Magnet Bomber. We were lucky he's too cocky for his own good."

Seconds later, Cute Pink walked by to show herself, much to our relief. "Pink?" asked 9-Volt.

"9-Volt!" chimed Cute Pink, as she hugged him warmly. Phoebe was happy to see that 9-Volt's other guardian angel was alive and well.

"I'm so glad to see you again! All those mean aliens kept telling me you turned evil and sided with the Dastardly Bombers, and...well, Phoebe did tell me you'd never do that, but..."

"Shhh...don't listen to them, sweetie."

Bill stepped in to talk. "Anyhow, Cute Pink...how did you and Blaze Bomber get out?"

Lance added, "And where did this Super Titanium alloy really come from?"

"We were both taken prisoner aboard Red Falcon's planet-sized space base, formerly an escape ship," explained Blaze Bomber. "Sniper Bomber decided to give it a name as something sinister and befitting to his leader, like the Death Falcon."

"Death...Falcon?" I wondered.

Ami felt just the same as well. "What kinda name...is that...?"

"Now that's a good question. I honestly don't know, but somehow, it sounds similar to that of...what do you guys call it? The Death Star, from _Star Wars_?" Ami and I nodded in response, before allowing him to continue. "I thought so. Anyway, I'll tell you what happened..."

[End BGM]

* * *

[Briefing BGM: Alliance Assembly (Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II)]

(BLAZE BOMBER'S FLASHBACK)

_Shortly after Sniper and Axe took us down, we were indeed taken prisoner all over Earth. But, Purple Basilisk insisted that Cute Pink and I be held prisoner aboard their main base within Earth's orbit. He resurrected the Five Dastardly Bombers under Sniper Bomber's supervision, including the evil version of Pink herself that Cheerful White and Cool Black fought 2 years ago. It seems they wanted everyone on Earth to think she turned evil...or so I've heard. Meanwhile, Purple Basilisk reinforced all of his robots and evil Bombermen - both male and female - with what he called Super Titanium alloy. It originated as Super Titanium ore, mined from a distant planet of darkness. No ray of sunlight had ever shined on that planet. Immediately upon discovery, the Red Falcon Empire hired an army of alien cutthroats and soldiers to mine for the ore, whereupon they personally concentrated it 100 times over, so that no force on Earth - not even holy power - could even destroy the Super Titanium alloy. That must be why only Star energy, found within Power Stars seen in the Mushroom Kingdom and in outer space, can penetrate the evil armor itself. Anyhow, I took Pink to safety as we fought our way out. We did all we could, despite uneven odds being stacked against us._

"This way, Pink! We've gotta escape to Diamond City and help Aaron, Ami, Bill, and Lance! Then, we can save all our other friends!"

"I'm right behind you...and not to mention poor 9-Volt!"

_I was damaged along the way, but not bad. Despite our escape on board one of the enemy ships, we were shot down without mercy above Earth's atmosphere. We braced for impact, while I gave Pink an emergency parachute. As soon as the downed ship reached past the clouds, we immediately bailed out. Pink quickly opened up her parachute and slowly descended to safety, while I attempted to slow down my fall. We both crash-landed, but thankfully, not bad._

"Penny, this is Aaron. We've just cleared our way to MagnetBase."

"Good job! Now all that's left is-" Suddenly, crashing sounds were heard over Penny's voice. "Oh my gosh! Blaze Bomber!"

"What? What happened?" A blaring alarm went off over the phone's speaker. "Crap! They've gone to full alert! I have to go now!"

"Guys-" _She was cut off at this point, but immediately turned her attention toward us. _"Blaze, are you alright?"

_Though the crash-landing was rather harsh on our part, I could still stand up. _"Yeah...a little injured, but not bad."

"We managed to escape to safety, and boy, did we learn some shocking news!" _Right after Pink finished her side of the story, __I was immediately taken in to be fixed. It took a little while, even when Penny downloaded the Star's energy into my body. As soon as I was whole again, I went with her to get you guys..._

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *

"...and that's pretty much it. One more thing I overheard, though: Purple Basilisk had been working on rebuilding Red Falcon's body, under Sniper and Axe's supervision, for the past two weeks!"

Bill gasped at what he heard. "What?! Red Falcon's back again?! But that's impossible, and this time, we mean it!"

"I thought Aaron and Ami wiped him out with their Final Smashes," added Lance, "and with our help to boot! His gigantic body was disintegrating, followed by his brain dying down after pulling a last-ditch effort to take us with him!"

Blaze Bomber nodded in agreement, and resumed his explanation. "True, but it turned out that Purple Basilisk's distant reinforcements must have salvaged an alien cell that belonged to him. He's been using the cell in conjunction with the Super Titanium alloy to rebuild their army of evil Bombermen and women, as well as re-power Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber. In his spare time - if you can call it as such - he assisted the Hate Bombers in rebuilding Red Falcon's body. He's not fully restored yet...but who knows for how long?"

Mona had little to say in surprise. "Wow...so that means..."

"We gotta stop the rest of those Dastardly Bombers AND save our friends before it's too late!" 9-Volt panicked. "Our hometown was only the starting point!"

Phoebe and Cute Pink patted his shoulders affectionately to calm him down. "Relax, 9-Volt," said Cute Pink. "It's gonna be okay."

"Pink's right," chimed Phoebe. "We'll sort it all out together."

9-Volt sighed painfully. "Easy for you to say. All those bad guys have gotten stronger now!"

"True. But we're stronger, too. We just need to start by finding Cheerful White and Cool Black next."

"Yeah..." said Cute Pink. "I hope they're safe; I'm beginning to worry about them."

[End BGM]  
[Tutorial BGM: Dr. Light's Lab (Mega Man 8)]

Penny walked on in to cheer up the group. "I know what it feels like, but I'm sure Bill and Lance will help them reunite with you guys. Anyway, before you go, I'd like you to have these." She gave Mona and the others a pack of energy drinks. "These are my experimental Star Drinks, powered by our Power Star. There are about 6 of them for now, but they're useful. However, do take care to use them wisely, and only by any means necessary. One can should be enough for you."

Blaze Bomber was impressed, though he added his two cents, "These don't work on robots like me, but I'm okay with that. They can make you strong enough to take on the evil robots that have Super Titanium alloy, but they won't last long."

"Can you make us more of these if we run out?" asked Bill.

"We could..." answered Penny, "but the Invincibility Star over there - well, I guess you could call it a Power Star even if it didn't originate in outer space - requires holy power to continue running, let alone generate another mixture of Star Drink. And to get holy power, I had to salvage the AK-47s, which contained what our computer identified as 'RF Chips'. Maybe the robots contain those chips, too. In other words, the Star-powered gadgets aren't free, technically speaking. But, if you collect enough of these RF Chips and bring them back here, I can then purify them into holy power. A White Wizard and his female accomplice, the White Mage, will help me do the purifying; however, Aaron and Ami will be out of action for the next day or two, so the mages can heal them."

"So the big machine that can generate Star-powered items for us..." wondered 9-Volt. "Is it almost like that item shop from both _Mega Man IV_ and _Mega Man V_ on Game Boy, only we're not using 'P-Chips'?"

"Something like that, 9-Volt." Penny smiled, and turned over to Bill and Lance. "Now before I forget: I've finished modifying your M16 machine guns with the same Star energy that the Contra Rifle and the Bomberman Watch possess while Aaron and Ami were out cold in the last hour, so you should be good to go until they're well again. Feel free to take their holy gadgets along if you want to, but do be careful with them, okay?"

"Understood," acknowledged Lance. "We'll do our best, and even take these RF Chips into account. Wish us luck!"

[End BGM]

Before Bill and Lance led their group out of the lab, they were warned about the recent pollution going on somewhere in Brazil. According to today's article on the Internet, there had been signs of water pollution occurring at the coastal areas of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to a large number of vicious mermen coming out from the Atlantic Ocean lately. Blaze Bomber could not tag along to investigate the problem, since going underwater will weaken his powers, so instead, he volunteered to help clean up the damage inflicted on Diamond City - as well as clear out the rest of the Magnet Bomber statues. For the time being, Bill and Lance would have to use both my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch until Ami and I are back in action. Henceforth, they borrowed the experimental CrygorCopter that would get them to Brazil in a matter of hours, about twice as fast as an airplane. Without further ado, the group took off for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A short while later during the flight, Mona noticed something strange coming from far below the helicopter, but she was unable to describe what it was. Maybe it was unknown to her and the rest of her group, but to a few others, it was the other way around...

"Mona, are you okay?" asked 9-Volt.

Mona nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. I thought I felt something a bit chilly from below us."

Phoebe wondered, "Really?"

"Probably just a little cold front," said Bill, "but right now, we need to put a stop to who or what's been causing the water pollution in Rio de Janeiro!"

Lance, however, had a question. "Who do you guys suppose would cause that? I mean, I know Golem Bomber wouldn't do water pollution. Fire and explosions are his M.O., or specialty, so he's out of the question."

Then Bill added his two cents, "And Brain Bomber is unlikely an eco-killer kind of guy, given his status as the engineer of the Five Dastardly Bombers."

"Everybody knows that," agreed Mona.

With that said, Bill and Lance piloted the helicopter as fast as it would go, while making sure to watch out for enemy aircraft and/or anti-air cannons. Luckily, there weren't any of them in sight. The following five and a half hours eventually passed since the departure from Diamond City, CA...

* * *

6 HOURS EARLIER...

Meanwhile, at a country road between Diamond City and Hollywood (both in California, of course), lies a pure crystal-wrought castle. Inside the big castle was Arctic Bomber, Mistress of the Cold - and ex-Hate Bomber. Despite the invasions going on all over the world, she didn't care about it and just enjoyed herself. Well, maybe she did care a little...but she decided to go bowling in her own private bowling alley until the invasion would blow over, while having her Ice Golem minions protect her riches. Though she originally had no place to stay, she went on a money-grubbing adventure of her own in hopes of getting a castle of her own. She found a hidden magic lamp, and used it to get her wish as well as a bowling ball of her very own, which she dubbed the "Glacier Ball."

"Ahh...another day, another invasion. I used to do stuff like that, but eh, not anymore. Red Falcon's dumb Bomber-bots ain't taking my castle from me - not with my loyal Ice Golems around!"

Unfortunately for her, she was wrong. Little did the Ice Princess know that Red Falcon's "dumb Bomber-bots" have been reinforced with Super Titanium alloy. In other words, her so-called security has no chance against them, much less her ice powers. Within minutes, her castle was under attack. Two evil Bomber-women attacked the Ice Golems with relative ease; razor-sharp leaves, that is. Within the next hour, they had complete control of Arctic Bomber's castle, and even her private bowling alley in the basement!

"Huh? What?! How'd you..."

"Get past your silly Ice Golems?" asked Mosquito Bomber. "Just ask Siren Bomber."

"It sure was good having these Super Titanium thingies installed onto our bodies, huh?"

"Oh, it's you two. Well I don't care that you're Purple Basilisk's Chaotic Bombers, but you just made the biggest mistake of your lives! HEE-YAAHH!"

Siren Bomber mockingly shook her head no. "Temper, temper." She pulled out a whip to entangle Arctic Bomber.

"AACK!" Arctic Bomber struggled to break free, but to no avail. "Say what you will about me, but I work solo now! Get outta my castle! It's mine! Gimme back what's mine right now!"

"Somebody's got quite a temper," said Mosquito Bomber. "Oh, well. This castle bores me. Plasma Bomber and his merry friends are giving us a castle that's much, MUCH, better than this borefest! Well, as long as it's not in a cold place, because I _hate_ the freezing wind..."

Siren Bomber got out a piece of paper which had Arctic's face imprinted on it. "So...I hear you're on the top list of 'Most Wanted Villainesses', huh?" She reached for a wall-mounted telephone nearby, and dialed 911 without delay.

"Dispatch of Hollywood Police Department speaking.," came a male voice. "What seems to be the problem today?"

Siren Bomber immediately put on a show by acting like an innocent human girl. "Oh, it's sooo horrible! That mean lady named Arctic Bomber kidnapped me and my friend, and she even tried to beat us up and freeze us! Oh please, help! We're trapped inside her crystal castle! Waaah!"

"Crystal castle? That's the same place we got suspicious of for quite some time. We are on our way, so stay calm!"

"WAAAAAAAAH!" cried Siren Bomber. "WE DON'T WANNA DIE!"

"Shh, it's okay. Just relax," assured the dispatcher. "We've dealt with bad guys who kidnap innocent women for their own amusement. We know their game plan. Shhh...it's gonna be alright, ma'am. We pinkie-finger promise." Then he hung up.

Arctic Bomber glared at Siren and Mosquito. "You twerps! I refuse to go to jail!"

Just then, someone else showed up: it was none other than Warlock Bomber, the infamous Black Wizard of Destruction. "Too bad! Thanks to the wonderful Internet technology your planet has, we know all about you! I gotta admit, you must be proud to have made the top 'Most Wanted Villainesses' list!"

Mosquito Bomber giggled deviously. "Mind if we steal what you love so much, while we're at it?" She immediately stole Arctic Bomber's bowling ball, while Warlock Bomber wasted no time incinerating the majority of her castle with a series of Firaga spells. He eventually led Siren and Mosquito out of the castle, and in no time flat, only the private bowling alley was spared. Finally, the Hollywood Police had arrived, and believed Siren Bomber's lies upon arresting Arctic Bomber.

"What? No! Wait! Stop! I didn't do anything! Don't take me to jail! Oh, it's sooo humiliating! No! No! NO! _NOOOOO!_"

One of the prosecuting officers shouted, "Yeah, that's what they all say! You're coming with us to the big house! I mean, arresting an innocent girl? Seriously, just look how low you crooks stoop these days..."

"I'M NOT A TERRORIST!" Those were Arctic's last words before the officer knocked her out with his taser.

* * *

6 HOURS SINCE THE BREAK-IN...

[Stage BGM: BigOcean (Bomberman Tournament)]

_Mission 2A: The coastal side of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil_  
_Witnesses have reported sightings of an unusually high number of vicious mermen storming the beach._  
_Meanwhile, the shores of the Atlantic Ocean are being polluted by a strange underwater base, surviving authorities say._  
_Bill Rizer and Lance Bean of the "Four Contras" sent to neutralize the threat, with Aaron and Ami Onuki out of action._  
_August 29, 20XX_  
_6:30 AM_

Bill began, "Looks like a good day at a beach, if only we never had any evil mermen and water pollution to contend with."

Lance joined in, "Since Magnet Bomber came along to invade Earth, then Golem Bomber, Pretty Bomber, Brain Bomber, and Plasma Bomber are present as well." He paused momentarily to glance over at Cute Pink. "By 'Pretty Bomber', I mean the evil one, not the good you."

"I know, Lance," she replied. "But just to avoid any confusions, I think we should dub her 'Evil Pretty Bomber' - or in my case, evil me."

9-Volt nodded. "I feel the same way you do, Pink."

"Me three," said Phoebe. "but the question is: will the people living in this city be able to tell the difference?"

Immediately, the mermen approached the group. "We'll worry about that later," interrupted Bill, kicking one of the mermen away. "Right now, we've gotta pulverize these freaks!"

Mona smirked. "They're not metallic, which means we don't have to hold back!"

The mermen attacked with their extendable tridents, which Bill and Lance blocked for Mona and the others with the Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch's 5-hit barrier systems. Meanwhile, reinforcements were pouring in from within no less than 10 illegally-modified BTR-80s, originally the 8x8 armored personnel carriers developed by the Russians decades ago. Unsurprisingly, since the vehicles yield the Red Falcon insignia, that means they were likely based on stolen technology. Luckily, Penny and Blaze Bomber teleported in two power-up pods from Crygor Labs, whereupon Bill shot down the pods for useful weapons: the Crash Missiles, and the Drill Shot. But instead of upgrading the M16 machine guns, he decided to put the power-ups in my Contra Rifle instead. While the BTRs could carry personnel on the battlefield and provide close fire support, in addition to reconnaissance, combat support and patrol missions, they were still vulnerable to armor-piercing high explosives. Bill took the opportunity to utilize the Crash Missiles and Drill Shots to destroy the BTRs (and kill the mermen inside), while Lance - having learned how to operate the Bomberman Watch - helped out by using the pumped-up Thunder Bombs. The electrical blasts disabled the remaining BTRs, forcing the mermen out by their weaknesses to electricity. Despite taking out all of the illegally-modified BTR-80s in the vicinity, there was no possible way of exploring underwater to find the source of the pollution. On the other hand, Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink were exhausted from the trip.

"Bill, Lance, we're tired," said Mona. "We're gonna exchange some of my money for Brazilian currency, and then check in to a hotel."

"Will you be alright without us?" questioned 9-Volt. "Phoebe and Cute Pink will keep me safe while we're resting up."

Bill smiled warmly. "Alright. I understand, but just in case of trouble, take three cans of our Star Drinks with you."

"And Cute Pink," said Lance, "if you're worried about Cheerful White and Cool Black, don't be. Bill and I will get them out safely for you, 9-Volt, and Phoebe. That's a promise."

Cute Pink beamed. "Thanks, you two. And I'll help Phoebe make sure 9-Volt's safe and sound, like he said." She followed Mona, 9-Volt, and Phoebe to a currency exchange center nearby the hotel. As soon as the coast was clear, Bill and Lance took a moment to exchange words with each other.

[End BGM]

"With these BTR-80s out of commission, we'll have to find another underwater transport."

"How about submarines? Maybe Evil Pretty Bomber's minions have them in store. We can hijack one of them and get to wherever her base is!"

"Great idea, Lance! So, if there's a MagnetBase, then whatever's been causing the water pollution must be PrettyBase."

"Well, only one way to find out, and that's by hijacking that submarine not far from here!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

With their friends safe at the hotel, Bill and Lance need only worry about Cheerful White and Cool Black's lives, in addition to the mucky water that's been polluting the coastal side of Brazil for quite some time. If it isn't stopped, the Atlantic Ocean will be contaminated for years to come...


	6. Under the polluted sea

Sorry for being about a whole week late on this. I've been spending a bit of my downtime with the recently-released _Mario & Luigi: Dream Team_ on the 3DS, aside from my personal life. Also, I originally thought of getting the underwater and enemy base "missions" done in one chapter, but it'd probably be a little too long, so I am separating them into two parts for now (the latter of which I will post on the weekend).

Anyway, it's an undersea adventure beneath the surface, but when Red Falcon's goons are involved, it's anything but pleasant.

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Under the polluted sea

Meanwhile at Diamond City in the United States, it was around 1:45 AM (whereas the current time in Brazil was 6:45 AM). Blaze Bomber had worked tirelessly to help the citizens and surviving construction workers clear out the damages inflicted on the city. During the repair process (and the demolition of all the remaining statues of Magnet Bomber), some of the citizens told Blaze about the current situation that had been going on in Washington D.C. - in which the US Army had been driving Red Falcon's non-robotic soldiers out of the United States for days now, despite hundreds of casualties. It seemed that ever since the invasion in the country started, the RF soldiers hadn't even planned on spreading the invasion past Washington D.C., since they expected Magnet Bomber to have spread his "Magnet Metropolis" all over the country by now. Unfortunately for them, that plan was crushed by our efforts. And so, Blaze Bomber went back to Crygor Labs to tell Penny the news, before flying off to assist the US Army on the eastern side of the United States. With the Star energy integrated into his system, a victory over the invaders would be guaranteed. By next evening, Ami and I would be all better and back in action...

[Overworld BGM: BigOcean (Bomberman Tournament)]

Back in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there were still plenty of vicious mermen roaming around. Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink were too tired to continue anymore, and had to check in to a hotel to rest up. Before they walked on in, they made sure to equip some translator devices from the helicopter's storage box - especially since the majority of people living in Brazil don't speak English. At first, the locals were frightened of Pink, mistaking her for the "evil witch" behind the water pollution and the sudden appearance of an unusually high number of mermen. 9-Volt was quick to defend his Bomber-pal and guardian angel, telling them she's not who they think she is. In response, they showed lots of wanted posters, each sporting a photo that didn't completely resemble Cute Pink by the look of her helmet...or her eye color. The good Bomber-girl sighed painfully, took off her helmet, and held her hands out as if she were instructed by a security guard in a search.

"Look, guys," said 9-Volt, "she's not the evil one. There really exists an evil version of her. The one standing next to me is the good one!"

The locals took a closer look only to be stopped by Mona. "Let's not go to extreme measures. She's just a kid!"

"Yeah!" Phoebe added. "She's like 12 years old or something!"

One of the civilians spoke up, while Mona's group turned on their translator devices. "Hmm ... O mal da bruxa aos olhos são azuis, mas não vermelho. (Hmm... The evil witch's eyes are blue, but not red.)"

"No entanto, a rapariga diz parece ser um pouco diferente, e é bom ... (Yet the girl you say appears a little different, and is nice...)"

Cute Pink nodded, putting her hands down."Mm-hmm..."

"E você realmente não transformar-se em grande polvo, então. (And you actually do not transform into big octopus, then.)"

"Not at all," said 9-Volt. "She is human, like us."

The locals eventually stood down, and allowed Pink to go into the hotel with Mona, 9-Volt, and Phoebe. Then the Bomber-girl said, "Thanks for defending my good name, guys."

"No problem, Pink," said Phoebe. "A fellow guardian angel of 9-Volt's, never lets the other one down."

9-Volt nodded happily in agreement. "Yeah. It's the least we could do, since you protected me every now and then." With that said, Pink blushed, and kissed his cheek affectionately before letting Phoebe hug him.

Mona giggled. "Alright, you three. Let's check in so we can go to sleep, while Bill and Lance get to the source of the water pollution."

[Interrupt BGM]

* * *

[Comfort BGM: Melody of the Lute (Final Fantasy IV)]

And so, the redhead paid for one hotel room with two Queen-size beds, and led 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink to their assigned room. While 9-Volt and Phoebe climbed onto the bed they wished to share, Mona closed the windows so the morning sun didn't shine on the room. They all didn't mind wearing their casual clothes in bed, instead of pajamas, since it's not a vacation. Pink, on the other hand, remained awake, worried about her best friends' safety. Though she was happy to be with 9-Volt and Phoebe again, she was also afraid she might never see Cheerful White again.

"Oh, White..." whispered Pink. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you like the way you did for me occasionally. Please...don't be dead..."

Her plea did not go unheard, as 9-Volt and Phoebe woke up to stand next to her. "I don't think he and Cool Black are dead, Pink," said 9-Volt.

"9-Volt's right," agreed Phoebe. "They've been through worse - well, mostly White himself - just like in plenty of _Bomberman_ games 9-Volt and I have ever played."

"Besides, Bill and Lance are already on their way to save them, because we believe in the Contras." But just as 9-Volt finished, his thoughts changed to that of 18-Volt, Kat, Ana, and even his mom's whereabouts. "Well...now that I think about it...I guess you were right to worry about White and Black after all."

"What to do you mean, 9-Volt?" asked Pink.

"I..." The 9-year-old boy tried to say something else, but tears started coming out of his eyes. "...I don't know if I'll ever see my other best friends again...or even my mom, for that matter... Why would Red Falcon and his followers do this to us, let alone me? What did we ever do to them? If it isn't bad enough I lost my dad during the Alien Wars..."

"What's wrong, sweetie?" came Mona's voice. 9-Volt looked back and saw his big sister figure standing next to him.

"I just wanna live in peace as a normal kid...me and Phoebe playing Nintendo games with our friends, and..."

Mona hushed him soothingly with a warm hug. "We'll get your mom back, and you can count on Aaron, Ami, Bill, Lance, and Blaze Bomber to do the job. I promise. Shhh, it's okay..."

"That goes double for 18-Volt, Kat, and Ana," said Phoebe. "Once this is all finished, we'll take you to a family-friendly bowling party."

"I'm here for you too, 9-Volt," added Pink. "I'm not too worried about White and Black anymore, because like you said, Bill and Lance are coming to their rescue."

9-Volt wiped away his tears, and walked back to bed with the others. "Th-thank you, guys..." He climbed on the bed near the window, while Mona opened up a sofa for Pink to snooze on as a bed.

"Shhh," hushed Phoebe, "no bad thoughts or nightmares, only sweet dreams."

"I wish I were brave like you," said 9-Volt. "I'm still too young to inherit my mom's summon magic..."

"9-Volt, you _are_ brave, simply by sticking with me, Mona, and your other close friends to the very end. Maybe when you and I get older, we'll help fight the forces of evil together, but right now, we're to live the rest of our childhood while I'm protecting you. Think of it this way: you're not a burden on me, or Mona, or anybody else you know. We love you as part of a family, just like your mom does." Phoebe took a moment to give 9-Volt a motherly kiss on his cheek, despite being only a year older than him. "I know we're just as scared, but as your guardian angels, Pink and I are here to keep you safe and sound, while keeping your spirits up."

9-Volt gave a small but warm smile, and hugged Phoebe in return for the kiss. "I love you, Phoebe." With that, he yawned and went to sleep.

The 10-year-old princess of Video Game Dream gingerly removed 9-Volt's helmet, gave it to Mona for safekeeping, and got on the other side of 9-Volt's bed. "I love you too, 9-Volt. Sweet dreams..." She stayed awake for just a little longer to stroke his head soothingly.

[End BGM]

* * *

[Stage BGM: Crashed Ship Frigate Orpheon (Metroid Prime)]

_Mission 2B: The polluted coast of the Atlantic Ocean  
We believe the water pollution and the merman troops' sudden appearances are coming from a giant clam shell-like building underwater, identified as "PrettyBase."  
Bill Rizer and Lance Bean of the "Four Contras" are now infiltrating the ocean via a hijacked submarine.  
August 29, 20XX  
7:00 AM_

Elsewhere, far outside town, Bill and Lance had found their way to a submarine that was parked at a small camp, albeit not without stealthily taking out the merman guards along the way. They quietly sneaked inside, and Lance froze the sleeping mermen with the Ice Bombs. Then Bill took out the alarm with a Drill Shot from my Contra Rifle.

Having assessed the situation, he said, "Alright, that should keep the rest from knowing we're coming for Evil Pretty Bomber."

Lance, however, had second thoughts. "Just one problem: we don't know how to pilot a submarine."

"You never know until you try."

"Let's just hope the instructions aren't in a foreign language. By the way, did you notice something odd about Magnet Bomber the other day?"

"Well, aside from a slight change in his height unlike in some of the _Bomberman_ games he appeared, nothing seemed too odd. Why?"

"I'm just saying. I mean, it's possible Red Falcon's DNA altered the Five Dastardly Bombers' physical bodies a bit. Assuming that were the case, it'd be no secret Magnet's almost as tall as we are." Then Lance climbed into the submarine with Bill, taking a minute to glance at the controls. "Let's see...straight-running, or unguided, torpedoes, and guided torpedoes. These are powerful stuff, alright...yup, those alien bastards are ready for World War III."

Bill nodded in agreement. "It's already World War III, but right now, stopping the pollution is our priority. Now, as long as we don't shoot, Evil Pretty Bomber's minions will think we're on their side. Just gotta make sure to watch out for sea mines..."

The twosome piloted the compact-sized submarine across the ocean, making sure to avoid the sea mines. While they could just detonate the mines with the submarine's torpedoes, doing so might raise suspicion from the other subs patrolling around PrettyBase. A few minutes later, they came across one of the patrolling subs.

"Oh it's you, the ones aboard the Victor-2MNY," said the enemy captain, via radio. "This is unit Marko-6V; how goes the patrol? I thought you were taking care of business at the shores."

The Contras paused for a moment, and reluctantly imitated the sub's crewmen to avoid getting caught. Bill merely cleared his throat so he could speak with a gruff voice. "Uh...yeah. But, we've decided to return to base. Ev-I mean, _Queen_ Pretty ordered us to, uh, help pump out some more pollution...thingies."

Lance joined in, also with a gruff voice. "And what of the prisoners?"

The enemy captain replied, "Oh, you mean those unsuspecting brats, Shirobon and Kurobon? They're having a good time with Her Highness - of course, as her prisoners, if you know what I mean. Actually, she's still a Princess, but by the time the pollution spreads across the Atlantic Ocean, those foolish Earthlings will beg her to become their new and permanent Queen of the Seven Seas! Shiro and Kuro will have no choice but to serve her for life. They shall promise to love and obey her - and _only_ her..."

"Or else she blows them up with her...whaddya call it...Pretty Bombs?" asked Bill.

"Naturally, of course. I mean, what else are they good for if they fail or refuse to love and obey her 24/7?"

"In other words..." Lance paused to think of something else quickly. "Uh, make the Princess happy, or she blows them to bits. Yeah, that's right. Anyways, over and out." He and Bill went on their way without detection or suspicion, changing their voices back to normal.

"Phew...that was close." Bill suddenly had one other thing on his mind. "Oh, did you hear what that captain said?"

"Yeah," answered Lance, "but who are Shirobon and Kurobon?"

"Hmm...I think they sound like Japanese names. My translation may not be exact, but it sounded like the captain was talking about White Bomber and Black Bomber..."

"In short, Cheerful White and Cool Black are being held prisoner at PrettyBase."

After a short conversation with one of the patrolling subs, and exchanging thoughts with each other, the Contras infiltrated the ocean further, still taking care not to touch the sea mines. As anyone would know, even a small bump can prove disastrous. However, within the next minute, an SOS signal went off, with some other subs headed towards the one Bill and Lance were commandeering.

[Interrupt BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Space Pirates Appear (Metroid: Zero Mission)]

"Hey, wait a minute!" shouted the Marko-6V's captain. "It seems we have intruders aboard the Victor-2MNY!"

Lance gasped. "Crap! They must've found the frozen bodies on the surface!"

"Attention, hijackers! Your days are numbered! On behalf of the soon-to-be-Queen Pretty Bomber, we'll blow you to hell with our torpedoes! On second thought, I hope you bump into a sea mine!"

Bill scoffed. "Not today, alien scum! Shiro and Kuro - I mean, Cheerful White and Cool Black, are coming home with us!"

Forced into an unavoidable fight, Bill and Lance veered the submarine away from oncoming torpedoes the best they could, thus luring the enemy subs into their own destruction. From that point on, they detonated the sea mines they saw with their own torpedoes, in order to make their trek easier. During the battle, Lance took a look at the instruction manual, which, thankfully, was in English. He looked for the pages that show how to use the submarine in combat.

"Bill! This sub has a masker feature, which can prevent guided torpedoes from seeking us out! We'll have to time it right since it doesn't last long."

"Thank goodness that manual's in English. Uh-oh...more hostiles comin' at us!"

As expected, the enemy subs fired homing torpedoes, aimed at Bill and Lance. They shot out their own unguided torpedoes in return, while using the masker to save themselves from certain death. Explosion after explosion sent all subs within range veering backwards with a bubble jet effect. Luckily, it didn't damage the hull on Bill and Lance's sub. As for the enemy subs, they weren't so lucky as they were knocked into the exploding sea mines nearby. With that, most of Evil Pretty Bomber's patrolling minions were wiped out. Two of the Four Contras eventually reached PrettyBase, which looked like a giant clam shell with an embedded golden heart emblem up front, and two statues of Evil Pretty Bomber by the entrance. The observation was quickly cut short when Bill and Lance noticed heart-shaped torpedoes coming at them.

"Seriously?" Bill felt dumbfounded. "Heart-shaped torpedoes?"

"Yeah," replied Lance, "but at least they're not guided-" But before he could finish, one of the torpedoes struck the side, resulting in a klaxon going off.

Bill shouted, "Aw, crap! I think we've got a hull breach! What do we do now?"

Lance glanced over the manual, flipping the pages without delay. "_In case of a hull breach, immediately pull out the proper equipment for patching breaches, and find the spot that's spraying water. Afterwards, PLUG THE ENTIRE LEAK A.S.A.P.!_"

"Hurry up, Lance, or we're sunk!"

"I'm on it, buddy! Hang on!" While Lance searched for the patching equipment, Bill immediately went to the breach spot and blocked the water flow with a large metal girder. They only had so much time to patch the breach before the pressure hull became compromised, for once that happens, it would ultimately implode the entire submarine, drowning them inside. As soon as Lance found the equipment, he ran towards Bill and handed over the big metal pieces, and other useful equipment. They worked together, and eventually plugged the breach before things turned disastrous. Then they got back to moving the submarine again, and finally parked it at PrettyBase's entrance.

[End BGM]  
[Victory BGM: Stage Clear (Contra 4)]

Lance sighed in relief "Oh, MAN! I'm glad we stopped that leak in one piece..."

Bill nodded in response. "I agree. A minute later and we would've drowned!"

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The two Contras have made it to PrettyBase safely, but what happens inside is all up to them. As a side note, I used Dictionary's translator site for the accurate English-to-Portuguese translation. In fact, I got the idea to do so after having read a _Punch-Out!_ fanfic last month (titled "PunchOut! Second Round"), with the assumption that Dictionary's translator page was used for just that as well. But beyond that, since the majority of DCC #5 takes place all over the world, expect the translation dialogue to show up occasionally.


	7. Under the polluted sea - Part II

The unpleasant undersea adventure continues, but fortunately, Bill and Lance have Evil Pretty Bomber cornered.

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Under the polluted sea - Part II

[Interlude BGM: Rukifellth's Theme (Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!)]

Elsewhere above the Earth's atmosphere, Purple Basilisk and Sniper Bomber were greeted with disappointing news from the surviving henchmen that were driven out of the United States. The purple-skinned humanoid alien, however, didn't take the news well. He was sure the Red Falcon Empire would be virtually unstoppable with the Super Titanium alloy at their disposal this time.

"I gave your robotic comrades the protection guaranteed to nullify every man-made weapon thrown at you, and yet still _two guys_ miraculously defeat you by the thousands?! I never should have let that incompetent braggart take charge of business in America, let alone Diamond City of all places!"

Sniper Bomber scoffed. "Well, what did you expect? They're friggin' Contras; gung-ho, but not stupid."

"Duh! I know _that_, but the fact they magically turned the tables in their favor baffles me!" Purple Basilisk threw his arms high in frustration. "Not even their holy powered toys could scratch the Super Titanium alloy, unless..."

"Blaze Bomber brought his human friend, Penny Crygor, to safety before we took him prisoner, so she could try and exploit a flaw in the alloy itself. Aaron and Ami could only have survived, much less freed themselves along with Bill and Lance, if Magnet Bomber was too overconfident for his own good."

Purple Basilisk pounded his desk in a hissy fit. "I will NOT be outsmarted by a human child nor Blaze Bomber!"

"So what? We still have the entire planet covered with the Five Dastardly Bombers at the helm. We'll get our chance to strike hard, even if Axe Bomber's not bored as hell."

"Oh yeah?! What about your _plan_ to make the Contras and their friends think Cute Pink turned evil by kidnapping her?! It's nothing but a flub now!"

Sniper Bomber replied smugly, "Will you relax? It was just a nasty little prank Axe and I felt like playing on them for kicks, that's all. We never counted on it too much to succeed, anyway. Besides, with the other Dastardly Bombers guiding our empire to sheer victory, not even the Contras can take us all."

During the conversation, Warlock Bomber stepped inside Purple Basilisk's office to greet his creator. "Good news! We've recently gotten Arctic Bomber arrested, just as we planned! I never knew Siren could imitate someone's voice, but she did us proud!"

"At least you did something right," said Purple Basilisk. "Now take our surviving men with you to Brain Bomber's hideout for more reinforcements. Sniper, Axe, and I have business to take care of."

"It's as good as done," acknowledged Warlock Bomber. "How much longer till Lord Red Falcon's resurrected back to life?"

"You can't rush art," answered Sniper Bomber.

Immediately after Warlock Bomber took his leave, Axe Bomber barged in. "Hey, boss! When do we get to kill the Contras? My axe hands are itchin' to rip 'em apart!"

"Not yet. We're supposed to supervise Basilisk in his assignment to redeem himself." Sniper Bomber gestured for his loyal second-in-command to bring Purple Basilisk along.

"Yeah yeah, but I'm bored with being cooped up in the Death Falcon every day and night..."

[End BGM]

* * *

[Stage BGM: Lakebed Temple (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)]

_Mission 2C: PrettyBase_  
_It is officially confirmed that this base is the source of the water pollution._  
_If said source isn't taken out, the pollution will spread all over the Atlantic Ocean...or worse._  
_Meanwhile, Cheerful White and Cool Black are said to be held prisoner inside PrettyBase._  
_August 29, 20XX_  
_7:20 AM_

Back down on Earth, Bill and Lance were glad to have made it past the enemy patrol alive. However, they knew they weren't done yet, as they still had the water pollution to stop before it got worse, for they could not afford to let Cheerful White and Cool Black down. Henceforth, they climbed out of the submarine and inside PrettyBase, deliberately ignoring a warning sign which read: _DANGER! No loitering, spying, or intruding allowed! That means you, unless you're working for me. Thank you! ~ Pretty Bomber, soon-to-be permanent Queen of the Seven Seas_

"Hey, Lance...um, about that water we stopped from seeping in."

"What about it?" asked Lance.

"Despite its polluted condition," explained Bill, "it wasn't acidic. If that were the case, then we wouldn't have encountered those illegally-modified BTR-80s at the Rio beach by now, much less hijack an enemy submarine."

"Yeah. And those subs wouldn't be around, either. I take it acid isn't Evil Pretty Bomber's style; just plain mucky water." As soon as Lance finished, a couple of mermen spotted him and his buddy, readying their three-pronged spears.

"Hey!" The merman shouted. "No loitering allowed! Or did you not bother reading the sign up front?"

"You probably heard it before," added the other merman, "but we'll just say it since you'll wind up dead anyway. Ahem...I dunno how you broke in, but we know how you're getting out: the hard way!"

Bill and Lance dodged the thrown spears, and elbowed the mermen down. "There are likely more on the way," warned Bill, "including Red Falcon's humanoid alien soldiers."

"Speaking of which," said Lance, "we should activate the 'Konami Barriers' Penny taught us, like with Aaron and Ami."

Bill shook his head no. "Not now, Lance. Let's stick with Aaron and Ami's gadgets' 5-hit barrier systems for now, then we can do the same for our M16 machine guns. We can't afford to waste the 30-hit Konami Barriers."

Lance nodded. "You've got a point there. It's probably best that we save it for the battle against Evil Pretty. Then again, it's been a while since we tried _Bomberman Tournament_ on Game Boy Advance. Come to think of it...I don't remember if we beat the game or not."

For the time being, Bill and Lance turned on the 5-hit barrier systems within my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch; better for them to wait five minutes than half an hour for the protection to come back. Just then, two generic RF soldiers came by, only for Bill to stealthily knock them out with the butt of my Contra Rifle. He and Lance eventually dragged them into the darkened area of the room, and swiped their outfits - save for their underwear and socks. Before they walked off, Lance immediately put the KO'ed guards to sleep with a Sleep Bomb.

"These light armorsuits will surely help us blend right in," said Bill. "I mean, it's just the two of us against a large number of Evil Pretty's minions."

"But what if they see through our disguises," questioned Lance, "just by looking at Aaron and Ami's gadgets?"

"Then we say we stole them, even if our disguises won't last long."

"That might work, but let's hope they don't have X-ray visions and stuff."

Despite the risk that Evil Pretty Bomber's minions might have X-ray vision, Bill and Lance went along with their plan anyway. They sneaked their way across the guard-filled rooms, making sure to act casual. One of the guards spotted them and, thinking they're working for the so-called queen, asked, "Ah, there you are! Did you get 'em?"

Bill reluctantly put on a gruff voice again, knowing not to get caught. "Sure did!"

Lance followed suit. "It was helluva tough, but we got 'em good and swiped their gizmos! These gloves sure come in handy so they don't hurt us!"

"Seriously? I mean, awesome! We'll take over from here. You need to escort Trigger Bomber to Princess Pretty Bomber's lair, so the ceremony will start!"

"Uh...ceremony?" asked Lance.

The guard sighed. "Have you forgotten already?! She's about to crown Shirobon and Kurobon as her loyal servants! Once the ceremony is over, they must promise to love and obey her 24/7, or else! Now get moving with the others! We'll make sure no one else dares get in!"

Bill and Lance left, but upon approaching the next door, a wall-mounted sentry scanned their bodies. It was as they thought after all: it had X-ray vision. "I CAN SEE DIFFERENT-LOOKING FACES BEHIND THESE HELMETS," the sentry bellowed, with a male voice. "THE FACES OF HUMANOID INTRUDERS. DEATH TO THE FOUR CONTRAS!"

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: GF Battle Theme (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)]

"CRAP!" Lance shouted. "I was afraid something like this would happen!"

"Weapons free!" Bill warned, just as the same guards they spoke with earlier came rushing in.

"I take it you're the same Bill Rizer and Lance Bean who survived our outer defenses!" The guard pulled out an AK-47 machine gun. "Well, we found the bodies of our comrades you stripped of their armorsuits!"

The other guard added, "Give them back, and we shall kill you peacefully!"

Lance smirked. "You want 'em? Here ya go!" He and Bill took off the armorsuits, chucked them at the two guards, and electrified them with a Thunder Bomb.

"This way, Lance!"

"Now can we turn on the 30-hit Konami Barriers?"

Bill thought quickly, eventually deciding there was no other option but to do so. "It's a dangerous risk, but it's better than getting swatted all over, even if we do find cover. Up, up, down, down!"

Lance followed suit. "Left, right, left, right!"

Then the twosome blurted simultaneously, "B, A, Select, and Start!"

In a flash, my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch activated the 30-hit barriers around Bill and Lance. Without hesitation, they began mopping up the place along the way. The alien soldiers tried their hardest to kill the two Contras, only for their shots to be deflected by the barriers. Needless to say, it's very easy to lose track of how many more hits the Konami Barrier can sustain, especially in the heat of battle. Nearly half an hour of exploring PrettyBase later, in addition to killing more bad guys and destroying some enemy machinery, Bill and Lance found themselves face-to-face with Trigger Bomber just outside Evil Pretty Bomber's lair. As of now, Bill didn't have the Crash Missiles nor the Drill Shot anymore (since the Konami Barrier took some damage for him), but rather the Spread Gun and Laser Beam that Penny and Blaze Bomber sent in from Crygor Labs.

"Ahh," Trigger began, "I was hoping you'd die before you got here, but I digress."

"Consider yourself disappointed, Trigger Bomber," Bill stated smugly.

"Sorry to burst your bubble," added Lance, "but we're shutting this pollution factory down!"

Trigger Bomber laughed it up, as if the Contras' words were like thunder yet without lightning, to him. "Talk is cheap! But nevertheless, I was getting tired of patrol duty ever since I got assigned here. I'll be more than happy to turn you two into Swiss cheese!"

[End BGM]

Before the Chaotic Bomber could open fire, Evil Pretty Bomber's voice interrupted him. "STOP! I'll handle them myself."

"What?! Aw, c'mon! You never let me have any fun!"

Evil Pretty Bomber shook her head no. "That won't be necessary. Well, fellas? Come on in to my room! There aren't any fancy-looking mines waiting to blow you to bits. I don't want my room looking dirty from the explosions, anyway."

Trigger Bomber huffed in disappointment, but he obeyed her and glanced back at the two Contras. "You're free to go, but no funny stuff or it's curtains for your sorry asses!"

* * *

Recalling what Magnet Bomber did to me and Ami back at MagnetBase in Diamond City, Bill and Lance took careful steps towards the door, which Trigger Bomber opened for them with a keycard. Upon stepping inside, he closed the door behind them and resumed his post up front. Unlike all the other rooms inside PrettyBase, Evil Pretty's lair was pink all over, in a way that young princesses could only dream about. True to her word, though much to their surprise, she initially greeted them with a curtsy.

[Introduction BGM: Peach's Message (Super Mario 64)]

"Hi there, and welcome to my bedroom! I'm your hostess, Pretty Bomber!"

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Tower of Zot (Final Fantasy II/IV)]

With her introduction out of the way, she put aside her sweet exterior and got down to business. "I heard about you from Magnet Bomber, although I was expecting all _four_ of you guys to show up."

"You can thank him for putting Aaron and Ami out of action with his booby trap," said Bill, dryly.

"No offense," stated Lance, "but there can be only one 'Pretty Bomber' on this planet."

Evil Pretty Bomber retorted, "You mean Cute Pink? Pshhh! She's a phony! I'm the real deal!" Then she pointed to Cheerful White and Cool Black, who were tied to the bed.

"Please!" White cried. "Stop this!"

"Snap out of it!" Black pleaded.

Bill called out to get their attention. "White! Black! It's us, Bill and Lance! We're here to save you on behalf of the good Pretty Bomber: Cute Pink!"

Lance added, "That one next to you is the evil one! She's trying to fry your brains with her lies!"

Evil Pretty Bomber stepped in front of her bed, sternly placing her hands on her hips. "Hah! Feel free to stop your silly quest now, cuz I'm about to take you out, stinky Contras! AH, HA HA HA HA HA HAH! All shall bow down before me as the new and permanent Queen of the Seven Seas! Oh, and give my regards to Magnet Bomber if you so happen to run into him. I didn't expect you'd be able to discover our Super Titanium alloy's weakness, but then again, I'm surprised he managed to enslave a whole country not from its capital, but rather the confines of...Diamond City, was it? No matter, because the rest of us Dastardly Bombers are far more powerful than him."

Still staring at Bill and Lance, she got out a dark Smash Ball from her drawer. "C'mere, my dearest Smash Ball. Show your power! Let me transform into Pretty Balloon!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Dastardly Bomber Battle! (Bomberman Tournament)]

Evil Pretty Bomber opened the palms of her hands and closed her eyes, thus enabling the Smash Ball to float in front of her by telekinesis. She focused deeply, and balled up her hands, breaking the Smash Ball in the end. Within seconds, she mutated into a large octopus, which obviously did not look anything like a balloon, the way she called her monstrous form. Her feet and arms became a bunch of tentacles, while she retained a rather large-sized golden heart emblem on her forehead. Bill and Lance thought her monster form was called "Pretty Squid" because she resembled an octopus...at least that's what they recalled from _Bomberman Tournament_ on Game Boy Advance.

"Stay right where you are," boomed Evil Pretty Bomber, her voice being monstrous, "and bow down before me!"

Bill sternly refused. "Never! Your water pollution scheme ends now!"

Lance readied his M16 machine gun, holding it on his right hand. "We've beaten you once before in _Bomberman Tournament_, and perhaps we can do so in real life!"

Evil Pretty Bomber wasn't intimidated one bit. "As your people might say, such silly simulations aren't exact!" She grabbed Bill and Lance with her tentacles, thereby catching them off guard, and continuously slammed them on the floor until their Konami Barriers wore off.

"YEEOOOOWW! OW! OW! OW!"

"OUCH! OOCH! LEGGO OF US!"

Evil Pretty Bomber, still slamming the Contras against the floor, said mockingly, "Oh, I'll let you bozos go, alright...straight into that wall!" The evil pink princess threw Bill and Lance into the wall, doubling up their pain. Since they used up plenty of their energy for the Konami Barriers to activate, they wound up exhausted. This gave Evil Pretty an advantage to jump up and butt-slam them, and repeated that process a couple more times, all the while snorting mockingly.

"Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! This is gonna be just like old times, such as when I piloted a turtle mech to slam Shiro and Kuro around! Or better yet, the one time I sent my cute li'l Pretty Bombs after Shiro - and I didn't even have to lift a finger to move those heart-shaped bombs around! You're the dead twerps! You're the dead twerps!"

"...Bullcrap!" Bill muttered, as he grabbed one of the dropped Star Drink cans, opened it up, and drank its recommended dosage. Lance did the same for himself as well.

"These may not last more than like five minutes or so," said Lance, "but we'll use what we got to dethrone you!"

By consuming just a bit of their Star Drinks, Bill and Lance were super-charged with twice the strength. Fortunately, the way those energy drinks functioned were nothing like the typical anabolic steroids, thanks to Penny's careful studying. The two Contras stood their ground, goaded Evil Pretty Bomber into attacking them, and avoided her swipes and poisonous blobs she shot out of her arms. As soon as they landed some punches and kicks, she turned into a spherical slime with a ball-shaped core in its center. This was no ordinary ball, as it was in fact a bomb. Recalling from _Bomberman Tournament_, Bill and Lance waited for Evil Pretty to expose her sunken parts by shooting out pink slime. That's when Lance chucked a Fire Bomb at the core, inflicting damage but not without setting off a big blast before he and Bill could get away.

"YEOWCH!" Bill winced. "Now I see why she calls her form 'Pretty Balloon'..."

"Yeah," agreed Lance, "but like from the game, we have to avoid the poisonous blobs until she reforms herself."

Having followed their own advice by moving around carefully, Bill and Lance prevented the blobs from poisoning them. Evil Pretty eventually reformed herself, and then exclaimed, "The next time you blast me like that, I won't go bye-bye alone!"

Lance had a gut feeling what was soon to happen. "Bill, we have to hurry before our Star Drinks wear off! Otherwise, we might not survive the outcome!"

Bill acknowledged without a doubt. "I'm all over it, buddy! I'll draw her attention while I still can!"

While Lance threw another Fire Bomb, Bill goaded Evil Pretty into chasing him. With that, she turned into a large ball of slime again. She exposed her weak spot again, the two Contras blasted the bomb core again, and the battle eventually came to a close. However, in a desperate move, Evil Pretty ensnared Bill and Lance by the legs so they couldn't escape. Her body began exploding, as the bomb core became red-hot once more, gradually inflating like a balloon.

"Ugh!" grunted Bill. "I'm stuck! I can't get out!"

"Me neither!" Lance uttered huskily. "I hope we don't die!"

Meanwhile, Cheerful White gasped at the horrific sight of his rescuers. "Bill Rizer! Lance Bean!" he cried, as he and Cool Black struggled real hard, eventually freeing themselves from being tied to the bed by the ropes.

"Hee hee hee hee hee!" Evil Pretty blurted excitedly. "Go boom for me, PrettyBase! GO BOOM!"

White panicked in fear, running behind his former rival as they came towards the Contras. "Hold on, guys! We're coming!" With Black's words, Bill and Lance struggled with all their might to escape, even with the help of a couple Ice Bombs to freeze the exploding slimy body. They managed to break free, but the bomb core was still swelling up in size, until it became big as a beach ball. Using what little time they had left from their Star Drink dosage, Bill and Lance took White and Black to safety, only to find out too late that Trigger Bomber secretly welded the door shut on the other side, before he fled the doomed base. Having lost their only safe way out, the Contras purposely held their friends down on the floor with their bodies for protection.

[End BGM]

"Brace yourselves, everyone!" barked Lance. "She's gonna blow!"

"BYE-BYYYEEE!" uttered Evil Pretty Bomber, as the bomb core finally exploded, reducing her monstrous body to nothingness with a pinkish spirit flying out of her. That very same explosion destroyed the entire base and its water-polluting mechanism, thus stopping the pollution once and for all, but not without rendering Bill, Lance, Cheerful White, and Cool Black unconscious...

* * *

Two hours later, the foursome woke up on the Rio beach, miraculously lucky to be alive. Had Bill and Lance not used their Star Drinks by the end of the battle, they would have been killed in the explosion.

"Ugh...wh-where are we...?" groaned Bill.

"What happened...?" croaked Lance.

Mona sighed in relief. "Ah, thank heavens you're alive! We were worried you might have died like Aaron and Ami almost did!"

9-Volt explained, "We heard you were in danger, so we asked a local White Wizard for help!"

The female White Wizard spoke Portuguese, which Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink were able to interpret with their translator devices. Then the Bomber-girl testified, "She said that when you took out evil me, you also took out the whole base and the source of the water pollution. Within a week or so, the water should return to normal."

The White Wizard spoke again, this time with Phoebe interpreting the translation for Bill, Lance, White, and Black. "She also said you were nearly killed, but her White Magic saved your lives. That's when you were teleported to our boat, and here we are!"

"Really? Thanks!" chirped White.

"We owe you one..." said Black.

[Victory BGM: Elemental Stone (Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!)]

Bill stretched his arms out, relieved to have survived. "Thank goodness those Star Drinks protected us from certain death! It's fortunate we had enough for White and Black to take a few sips, before PrettyBase blew up."

Lance smiled in agreement. "My sentiments exactly. I thought we were done for, but we made it. Those vile mermen won't be tormenting innocent people anymore."

"Now we can all relax," said 9-Volt, "since you two defeated Evil Pretty Bomber."

"I second that," added Phoebe.

In the end, Mona and the others helped take their exhausted friends back to the hotel so they could rest up after the tough battle back at PrettyBase. With two of the Five Dastardly Bombers dead, only Golem Bomber, Brain Bomber, and Plasma Bomber remain. But by the time Ami and I are fully healed, we'd be ready to fight alongside Bill and Lance once again.

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The Atlantic Ocean is free of PrettyBase's poisonous substance, Bill and Lance have cheated death upon defeating its evilly sweet mistress inside, and the people of Brazil are no longer harassed by the vicious mermen everyday. Aside all that, I'll be seeing you next chapter, some other time!


	8. A HUGE rainforest in Paris, France

Aside from dealing with the Five Dastardly Bombers, Trigger Bomber's presence was a dead give-away to Bill and Lance: the Chaotic Bombers were back. And what of Arctic Bomber, now that she's in jail thanks to Siren Bomber's ruse?

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 7: A HUGE rainforest in Paris, France

_Good afternoon, or evening...or wherever you fellas are, and welcome back to our special broadcast on Contra TV. I'm Tim Shirts, reporting live from the sidelines as best as I can! Over the past few weeks, things had been horrifying as hell: a large army of evil Bombermen with seemingly-impenetrable "Super Titanium" alloy on their bodies conquered some of Earth's major countries and the best cities within! But luckily, on August 28, Aaron and Ami Onuki of the Four Contras broke out of one of Magnet Bomber's death camps, and nearly gave their lives to free Diamond City of his evil reign. Thankfully, they never suffered gruesome wounds, but they had to be in medical care for the next 24 hours or so._

_Therefore, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean of the Four Contras took over for Aaron and Ami, as they took off for the polluted seas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Evil Pretty Bomber, one of the Five Dastardly Bombers besides Magnet Bomber, was behind the pollution, and almost forced us all to bow down before her as, and I quote, the "new and permanent Queen of the Seven Seas", unquote. The battle was fierce, but Bill and Lance got out alive with their friends, Cheerful White and Cool Black...thanks to a highly-trained White Wizard living in Rio de Janeiro._

_As the day went by, Blaze Bomber - an honorary Contra, by the way - helped the US Army free the rest of our home country of Red Falcon's evil alien henchmen. As he said, he was proud to fight on the good side, for he felt that it suited him very well. Later, Aaron and Ami were feeling better, and ready for action. Evil aliens beware, 'cause the good Contras are back in good fighting condition! This has been Contra TV, on behalf of one of Konami's finest video game franchises ever. Good day, or good night, to all..._

[Interlude BGM: Rukifellth's Theme (Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!)]

Suddenly, the broadcast ended abruptly with a smash to the monitor. It's revealed that Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber were watching the broadcast live on their TV, despite their seething hatred for us Four Contras. Axe Bomber, however, grew tired of sitting around inside the Death Falcon space station, and wanted to kill me, Ami, Bill, and Lance once and for all.

"NOW can we kill them?!" exclaimed Axe Bomber.

"Axe..." sighed Sniper Bomber.

"Don't shush me! They seem to be the only ones capable of piercing through that Super Titanium crap, which Purple Basilisk installed on us!"

"Not unless they got their hands on a Power Star, which is impossible since all of said Stars are usually in outer space. But even with that Star energy, we still have three other Dastardly Bombers supervising Purple Basilisk's Chaotic Bombers."

"Screw this. I'm warping outta here now!"

Just then, a familiar yet sinister voice rang out. "You do have a point, but I wouldn't bother killing them just yet." It was Red Falcon, whose newly-revived head was brought back in his large glass vial on tank-like tracks, now reinforced with Super Titanium alloy. Purple Basilisk accompanied him after having completed the task as told. "The last thing our empire ever need is another loss of my two loyal generals, for as long as Aaron, Ami, Bill, and Lance live, the Earthlings that don't even possess Star power have a chance at victory. But, since they got wounded earlier, it'll be a matter of time. In other words, one of those 'Five Dastardly Bombers' of ours might get lucky enough to kill them...such as Golem Bomber, I presume?"

"Yeah," replied Purple Basilisk. "It was _unfortunate_ that Trigger Bomber - yes, I'm looking at you, Trigger - failed to obliterate Bill and Lance."

"But I didn't know they had this Star energy to shield their bodies from the explosion _that_ big," complained Trigger Bomber, "even when I trapped them in Pretty Bomber's room back at PrettyBase!"

"And yet they somehow cheat death upon killing her. Now the Four Contras are probably already preparing to depart for Europe and Africa, so keep your ears and eyes open! Am I clear?"

"Definitely! I'll make sure to do more than just lock them up this time! Cross my spark and hope to die!"

[End BGM]

* * *

Meanwhile, down on Earth, we were flying on the CrygorCopter (with Blaze Bomber as the pilot) alongside the squad of helicopters from the US military's counter-terrorism unit, known as Delta Force. The Contra Cruiser, however, had to be kept at Crygor Labs since it would take some time to reinforce it with Star energy. Cheerful White and Cool Black, on the other hand, rode the other helicopter since ours could only carry about ten passengers aboard. We were headed towards France on behalf of reports indicating an unusually large rainforest dwelling all over its capital, Paris. Furthermore, Arctic Bomber had been recently set free hours earlier, but only on one condition: she could either go straight by helping us take out the Five Dastardly Bombers and the Red Falcon Empire, or she could go straight back to jail to serve out her sentence. For right now, she was on probation with Bill and Lance assigned as her watchdogs. On the other hand, since Blaze Bomber salvaged the "Red Falcon chips" from the evil Bombermen he destroyed to protect to US soldiers, we now had some more Star-powered gadgets to aid us. We were now close to arriving in Paris, France.

_Mission 3A: The artificial rainforest of Paris, France_  
_We suspect Mosquito Bomber is behind the sudden rapid-growth of lots of monstrous plants and stuff._  
_Accompanying us are the squad helicopters, each housing the soldiers of the US Army._  
_August 30, 20XX_  
_4:07 AM_

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Arctic?" Blaze Bomber began, through a PA speaker. "What happened?"

Arctic Bomber sighed in response. "Siren and Mosquito got me thrown in jail...and then Warlock Bomber added insult to injury by melting my entire crystal castle I worked so HARD for! And now, I wanna pay them back! My castle, my treasures, my PRIVATE two-lane bowling alley, everything...completely freakin' gone! All I did yesterday was admire my treasures, practice my bowling, and they came in there! Hey, Rizer! Gimme that Star Drink of yours! I wanna have that Star power you, your buddy, and even Aaron and Ami got!"

"Say please, Arctic," said Bill.

"D'ooh...fine. Please."

Lance nodded. "Good Bomber-girl."

Arctic Bomber took the Star Drink, opened the can itself, and gulped down its contents against Blaze Bomber's warning. "Don't gulp down more than one can at a time in 24 hours," he warned. "Penny said the side effects can be as bad as overdosing on real energy drinks."

"Ahh, pipe down, Blaze! What's the worst that can-EEEYYYOOWWCH! OW! OW! HOT! HOT! HOOTT!" She breathed out a fire, filled with Star energy; Mona giggled.

"What is this, Lava Juice?!" complained Arctic Bomber, her voice being temporarily hoarse from her mouth feeling hot.

"Not Lava Juice," I answered calmly. "Star Drink."

Ami added, "We don't mean to rub it in, but you've just tasted what only the good people can take. Evil ones, on the other hand, will only be rejected in a painful way, such as breathing fire from the Star Drink he or she ingested."

"Oh, thanks for the reminder, Miss Goody-Goody Bimbo!" The Mistress of the Cold huffed in a hissy fit. "Never have I been so humiliated in all my life...especially since that evil girl, Siren Bomber, stole MY bowling ball - the one I call the Glacier Ball!"

"Isn't it obvious as to why the Star Drink tasted so hot to you?" questioned 9-Volt. "I don't mean to brag, but what Ami's trying to say is, you're naughty."

"Naughty?! Why you little-"

Cute Pink stopped her with a stern glare. "DON'T. Touch. 9-Volt."

Arctic scoffed. "Ami junior."

"Ignore her, sweetie." said Phoebe, hugging and kissing 9-Volt affectionately.

"I know, Phoebe. You and Pink are both nicer than her."

Mona had a question in mind. "So how are we gonna get rid of Mosquito Bomber's giant, bug-infested rainforest? Fire burns insects and plants, doesn't it?"

"That works." I answered.

"The question is," wondered Ami, "can we guarantee it?"

[Suspense BGM: Deception (Final Fantasy V)]

When we veered closer to the center of the artificial rainforest, the vines opened up a path as if to invite us over. Blaze Bomber didn't like the looks of this, but decided to proceed with caution anyway. Arctic Bomber, on the other hand, didn't give a care as to whether it was a trap or not. Sooner or later, we all landed and entered the root of the problem: the Palace of Versailles. Immediately, a familiar voice called out: "9-Volt..."

"...Mom?" 9-Volt wondered.

"It's time to come home, where we won't have to worry about anymore alien invasions. I escaped the confines of a dungeon from within Mosquito Bomber's personal fortress." Then 5-Volt suddenly began singing to her son, eventually hypnotizing him into walking away from us.

_I know that voice,_ I thought. _But it's not exactly hers at all..._

"Come back with me, my son..."

"Yes, mom..."

[Interrupt BGM]  
[Dramatic BGM: Surprise! (Final Fantasy II/IV)]

"TO HELL!"

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: The Enemy Approaches (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)]

"I knew it!" I snapped my fingers to emphasize my sentence.

"9-Volt, snap out of it!" shouted Ami. "It's Siren Bomber!"

"It's no use snapping him out of it! He's completely under my control now! Give in, and I'll overlook what you did to Magnet and Pretty."

Bill stared daggers at Siren Bomber, disgusted at what she just did. "You've hit a new low in scumbag history, Siren."

Lance added angrily, "Brainwashing an innocent kid like 9-Volt by impersonating his mother just to get us to surrender. It's sick."

"You're a she-devil!" Mona shouted. "Even worse than Arctic Bomber!"

"You'd think I'd be crazy enough to eliminate all of you without any backup? Hmm, didn't think so. Mosquito?"

The Insectoid Queen herself flew out to face us alongside the Singing Beauty. "Nice to see you again! Siren Bomber and I invited you over as a means of testing your skills in combat against my close friends. Who would like to volunteer?"

Two of the leading soldiers in Delta Force, Sergeants Mad Dog and Scorpion, stepped forth. "No one," replied Mad Dog. "I suggest you get rid of all the unnatural trees and those nasty bugs you've been scattering all around and nearby the Palace of Versailles!"

"Because if you don't," reckoned Scorpion, with a Hispanic accent, "things are gonna get ugly."

Mosquito Bomber mockingly shook her head no. "Okay, then..." She pointed at Arctic Bomber, and continued, "I volunteer you! Couldn't stand being in jail, eh?"

"Mosquito's right," said Siren Bomber. "But taking advantage of 9-Volt's gullibility was only the beginning, just like that sad sack, Cody Travers, before him. As the only artificial representative of the long-gone Sirens, I've come to do more than just lure any unsuspecting sailor with an enchanting song to his impending doom. I'll brainwash every last male on Earth, firstly by playing on their fantasies and feelings, and then converting them into my eternal servants."

"What're you talking about?" questioned Blaze Bomber.

"Of course, my power is only restricted to my current position, but I can amplify it by ordering said servants to find all the other men, and bring them to me. Once that's accomplished, I'll personally sacrifice them as a tribute to Lord Red Falcon. In other words, those who have demonized the proud Sirens from Greek times up to this day, will they themselves be destroyed!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: The Dispossessed Eidolons (Final Fantasy IV: The After Years)]

Arctic Bomber snarled. "You wish. First, you break my pride after I got kicked out, then you get me arrested for nothing, and now you intend on turning all living men, even Bill and Lance, into brain-dead zombies?! That's all I can stand, I can't stand anymore! HEE-YAAAARRRGH!"

While Bill and Lance went with Blaze Bomber, Cheerful White and Cool Black to rescue the real 5-Volt, the angry Mistress of the Cold charged forth with her flailing arms, only to get tripped over by the legs with a pair of vine whips Mosquito snagged from the unnatural trees. She got up, and threw her Bowling Bombs forth like crazy; surprisingly, the fiery blasts didn't even do much damage on Mosquito because of her Super Titanium alloy. Then the Insectoid Queen retaliated by summoning a swarm of locusts and wasps to do her dirty work, attacking Mad Dog and Scorpion's men along the way. Arctic dodged as best as she could, but she couldn't avoid losing the ball-shaped antenna off the top of her helmet from Mosquito's vine whip.

"That's IT! Nobody messes up my helmet and gets away with it!" Arctic Bomber got out her can of Star Drink, opened it up, and gulped it down. "Hey, Mosquito! Have you seen-YEEEOOOOOWWWWW! INCOMING!"

Taking advantage of the way the Star Drinks could tell the good from the bad, the Ice Princess belched out a large stream of Star-filled fire from her mouth. She ran around haphazardly whilst damaging Mosquito Bomber, eventually setting the entire palace-sized jungle ablaze. In a matter of minutes, it completely burned down, whereas Arctic stopped and panted. As for the Palace of Versailles, it remained undamaged.

"Okay...I think I could use some ice water right about now..."

Meanwhile, Siren Bomber maintained her mind control over 9-Volt, her alluring song having summoned a large crowd of brainwashed male civilians and police officers to do all the fighting for her. Phoebe and Cute Pink tried snapping him out of it, while Mona, Ami, and I made every non-lethal effort to disperse the entranced crowd.

"C'mon, 9-Volt!" shouted Phoebe. "I know you can hear us! It's Siren Bomber's enchanted song that's making you see her as your actual mother!"

"It's not working," fretted Pink. "We'll never bring him back now!"

"Maybe we still can." She quickly pulled out her enchanted Super Scope, drank a bit of Pink's Star Drink, and unloaded on Siren Bomber with her makeshift cannonballs, each resembling a different-colored, ten-pin bowling ball. The Singing Beauty was too distracted to even take notice of the Super Scope's low rate of fire, let alone move out of the way before the balls blasted her, disrupting her concentration and scorching her white dress simultaneously. In just a short period of time, 9-Volt was no longer hypnotized, the illusion of 5-Volt vanishing before his eyes.

"No, no, NO!" Siren whined. "My dress was just fixed when Master Purple Basilisk revived me!"

"Serves you right," said Phoebe. "That's what you get for taking advantage of my best friend by impersonating his mom!"

9-Volt, having come to his senses, glanced at Phoebe and Cute Pink. "Wh-where's my mom? And...oh no! I can't believe I fell for that illusion..."

"Shh, relax, 9-Volt. It's not your fault."

"But what about my mom?"

"Bill, Lance, Blaze Bomber, White, and Black are freeing her at the moment, little bro." said Mona. "Let's give Siren Bomber a taste of Nintendo Power!"

9-Volt smiled in response, and nodded. "Right!" He sipped a bit of his Star Drink, giving him the power to harm the Super Titanium-reinforced enemies for a short time. He immediately joined Phoebe in the act of performing a triple jump and stomping on Siren Bomber's head. She threw some bombs at them, which they grabbed and hurled back like baseballs, damaging her dress some more. Mona followed up by grabbing the Chaotic Bomber's legs, and perfectly imitated Wario's Spinning Piledriver for more damage.

Mosquito Bomber, on the other hand, managed to regain control by buzzing around, dodging all of Arctic Bomber's attacks and sending out a swarm of mosquitoes with her Mosquito Bombs. Then she decided it's time to stop the fight, not caring which side was winning. "We did what we came here to do, Siren! Let's go!"

"But what about the Palace of Versailles?"

"There are other fine palaces around the world, which Plasma Bomber should be able to provide for us. C'mon! We'll continue your agenda elsewhere!"

Siren Bomber sighed, and turned her attention toward us. "Fine. But don't think you've won just because you managed to humiliate me! You and your pals are gonna pay for this, Mona!"

[End BGM]

* * *

The two Chaotic Bombers retreated, while Bill, Lance, Blaze Bomber, Cheerful White, and Cool Black returned safely with 5-Volt, Yumi, Ashley, and Red. We escorted the civilians and police officers out of the Palace of Versailles, but before 9-Volt and his mother could embrace each other warmly, Blaze Bomber noticed a flaming object passing by. In just seconds, a large fiery meteor came crashing down! It blasted part of the palace, forcing us to retreat back to our helicopters. That's when we realized: Mosquito and Siren intended to hold back from utilizing their Final Smash forms, just so we wouldn't suspect the _real_ oncoming threat until it was too late. We immediately took off and left Paris, France...

[Alert BGM: Emergency in Sector 3! (Metroid Fusion)]

_Aaron! Ami!..._ came Penny's voice, over the radio. _...and everyone else! Can you hear me?_

"Loud and clear, Penny," I acknowledged. "We've just cleared the unnatural rainforest in France and rescued more of our missing pals..."

"But suddenly," added Ami, "that giant fiery meteor came and pummeled its way onto the Palace of Versailles!"

Penny gasped. _Oh no..._

Blaze Bomber questioned in a concerned tone, "Where's it coming from, anyway?"

_Hold on..._ There was a brief pause in our conversation for about 20 seconds. Afterwards, Penny spoke up again. _Okay, I've managed to isolate the cause. Guys, it appears the meteors are coming from a volcanic base that happened to appear out of nowhere a couple weeks ago in Cairo, Egypt. According to a news report, it had a large, golden fireball symbol at the entrance._

Phoebe exclaimed, "That sounds like GolemBase, Golem Bomber's pyramid-like hideout in _Bomberman Tournament_!"

"Then it all makes sense now," suspected Bill. "The easy entry into that huge jungle, no monstrous forms to defeat, and not even a sign of Red Falcon's alien soldiers in sight!"

"Mosquito Bomber wasn't kidding when she said that she and Siren Bomber did what they came here for," said Lance.

Penny interrupted Bill and Lance with a warning: _Everyone, you'd better hurry to Egypt and destroy GolemBase before it's too late! Those flaming meteors could destroy all of Africa and Europe in a matter of hours!_

"What?!" panicked Mona. "Why Africa and Europe, and not just because they're not too far from Egypt compared to all the other continents in the world? That's crazy!"

_I know, but it's likely a trap intended to kill you guys, meaning Red Falcon would have an easier time conquering Earth. We've got about 6 hours before all of Europe and Africa are completely incinerated. We're counting on all of you, especially the Four Contras!_ Penny hung up, breaking contact.

Arctic Bomber growled. "Those two bimbos used me, I mean us! If I ever find this Golem Bomber bastard, I swear I'm gonna freeze him to his soul!"

Now that the trap was sprung, we were forced to venture all the way to Africa. Since the helicopters of today fly twice as fast as non-military airliners, we would arrive at our new destination in 2 hours instead of 4. Of course, we'd have to watch out for any stray meteors coming from GolemBase in Cairo, Egypt.

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The battle in France was but a diversion, though Egypt thankfully isn't too far from there. The Contras and their allies, now joined by Arctic Bomber, must fly over to Africa and snuff out the source of the erratic meteors: Golem Bomber himself.


	9. Crisis in Cairo, Egypt!

Having been delayed long enough, the Contras are forced to evade the oncoming meteors, and eventually arrive in Egypt...

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Crisis in Cairo, Egypt!

[Overworld BGM: Flying Battery Zone Act 1 (Sonic & Knuckles)]

_Mission 3B: Europe and Africa in danger  
We've just discovered the flaming meteors are coming from GolemBase in Cairo, Egypt.  
Though only one meteor is coming out at a time and does not pose much of a threat, we fear something far more dangerous in store once 6 hours have passed...  
August 30, 20XX  
7:41 AM_

We were again flying in the CrygorCopter towards our next destination, this time in Egypt. Following behind are the other helicopters from the US Army; this squad was identified as the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Force. For years, they were known for countering terrorism - in that case, the invasions by Red Falcon and the Five Dastardly Bombers. While they did help out during the Alien Wars 5 years ago, they were eventually forced into a tactical retreat, all while Bill and Lance picked up the slack and finished off the rest of Red Falcon's alien army.

Nowadays, Delta Force was ready and willing to assist us in any way they can, despite the lack of the Star energy Blaze Bomber, along with us Four Contras, now possess. In fact, Ami and I learned that while we were temporarily out of action, Penny modified Bill and Lance's M16 machine guns with Star power, so they'd function the same my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch does. Now we all have 5-hit barrier systems within our holy weapons, along with the option to activate the Konami "30-Hit" Barrier. Despite having to make sure we're in perfect balance, the ability doesn't technically apply to all four of us at once. In other words, while it only requires a certain pair of people descended from our ancestors that banished Red Falcon centuries ago, Bill and Lance can still back me and Ami up with their own Konami Barriers - just in case ours runs out.

The moment another flaming meteor flew by, we put aside our trains of thought and dodged oncoming fire. Unfortunately, one of the Delta Force helicopters wasn't so lucky. The moment it was struck by that meteor, we were shocked so see that happen, worried that Cheerful White, Cool Black, Yumi, Ashley, and Red were probably aboard that helicopter.

_Mayday! Mayday! We're not gonna- _The radio signal ended abruptly as the helicopter exploded in a ball of fire.

_Lieutenant Tommy, do you copy?_ Mad Dog's voice called. _Lieutenant Tommy, do you copy?!_

_Freakin' hell!_ cursed Scorpion. _We lost contact with him! He and his team have pretty much been killed already!_

"What about our friends we've rescued," asked Blaze Bomber, "or even Cheerful White and Cool Black?"

_They're with us at the moment. The one silver lining is that they, along with you guys, are okay._ Mad Dog breathed a sigh of relief.

_We will mourn our finest lieutenant later,_ came Scorpion's voice. _We must infiltrate GolemBase and destroy it now!_

The two sergeants hung up their communicators, breaking contact. Penny, however, called us next. _Blaze Bomber, this is Penny Crygor._

Blaze Bomber nodded. "Go ahead."

_I've just finished analyzing GolemBase further. According to what I've found, the meteors that have been coming out one at a time aren't entirely deadly. While it would take about a week for Golem Bomber and his loyal followers, including Volcano Bomber, to incinerate all of Europe and Africa..._

Bill interrupted, "Wait, Volcano Bomber's back, too?!"

Lance shrugged. "Not surprising that Red Falcon revived him as well. You were saying, Penny?"

_The real reason why I said we have less than 6 hours - right now, it's about 4 hours left - is that they've been stockpiling illegally-modified ICBMs! That's short for intercontinental ballistic missiles: long-ranged, greater than about 3,500 miles, and armed with one or more nuclear warheads! Fascinating at first, but downright dangerous._

Blaze Bomber shuddered at the thought of stolen weaponry. "Yeesh...Purple Basilisk just plain refuses to stop stealing Earth's military technology, does he? First, the BTR-80s Bill and Lance told us about, and now the ICBMs!"

Penny continued, _I'm afraid that's what he does best besides building a bunch of evil Bombermen and women. But aside all that, you've got to dismantle those ICBMs and destroy GolemBase before it's too late!_

"I know," I acknowledged. "The destruction this large could contaminate the entire planet with nuclear radiation in a matter of days, and that'd be the end of life as we know it!"

Ami patted my back reassuringly. "We'll stop the evil within Egypt at once before a single ICBM gets out!"

Bill turned his attention towards Arctic Bomber. "Now do you know why it's wrong to commit war crimes, let alone on a _populated_ planet such as Earth?"

"Yes, yes, I get it already," whined the ex-Hate Bomber. "Look, I freakin' kept my word when I said I'd stop coming after Aaron or bullying 9-Volt anymore, okay?! All I did was go on a small adventure of my own to Hollywood, take a magic lamp from some self-absorbed rich guy's castle, and use it to create my own crystal castle that got melted! Calls himself King Billy Bling, if you ask me, but that's not the point!"

"You _broke_ into a rich guy's castle? You do realize that's a felony, right?"

Arctic Bomber snapped, "Hey, I am _not_ going to jail for you nor anybody else, Rizer! I had to start somewhere, thank you very much! It's a long story, which I'm better off saving for some other time..."

[End BGM]

* * *

Although we did arrive in Egypt, we had to land at the safest spot possible - in town - due to stray meteors coming out of GolemBase. Once we got off, Blaze Bomber pulled out three golden beacons, each mounted on a metallic pole. He kept two of them inside our helicopter, while he put the other one out in a good enough spot. Once he turned it on, it generated a barrier large enough to protect all of the choppers within. "Since my good flames won't work wonders inside the fire-themed base itself, I'll stay here and refuel all our choppers. Meanwhile, you need to move fast and stay sharp, because each Star Beacon Penny designed for us can only generate its barrier for an hour before it wears off. In other words, you'll have three hours before the choppers are rendered defenseless."

Mad Dog saluted in response. "Understood, Captain Blaze."

"Please, call me Blaze Bomber, or Blaze."

Scorpion nodded. "Alright, Blaze. We'll consider our job done!"

Mona, 5-Volt, 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink stayed behind for safety reasons. "I'll help Mona and Blaze Bomber refuel our copters," announced Pink.

[Comfort BGM: Rydia (Final Fantasy IV)]

Mona added, "And 9-Volt, it's best if you stay here with us."

9-Volt nodded. "I know, sis. It's far too dangerous, but what if our Star Barriers run out of energy and we die?"

"Son, don't say that," said 5-Volt. "It's gonna be fine. With Aaron, Ami, Bill, and Lance around, we'll stop all those evil ICBMs from killing off the two neighboring continents."

"But what about Pink's other best friends, Cheerful White and Cool Black? Their bombs can't penetrate Super Titanium alloy!"

Phoebe smiled warmly. "Not if they've got some Star Drinks to power up their bombs with, which they do."

Cute Pink agreed, "So do I, just in case. Now relax, and rest with Phoebe."

"But-" Before 9-Volt could say something, Pink hushed him soothingly, and kissed his cheek.

"Calm down, sweetie."

"Your guardian angel's right. We don't want you to get all worked up, especially when you're exhausted. We're all exhausted from our long trip, but we're doing what we can." Mona hugged him in a motherly manner. "As for Siren Bomber and her trickery she pulled on you, she's fooled others a lot worse. But nobody impersonates your mom in front of you and gets away with it."

"Thanks, you two," said 9-Volt, turning his attention toward Phoebe and his mom, while Mona and Pink went out to help Blaze Bomber. "I'm sorry...I just wish I wasn't so gullible when I fell for Siren Bomber's ruse, but she brainwashed me and..."

Phoebe hushed him soothingly. "Shhh...it's okay. Like we said before, it's not your fault. You're just tired from our long trip, that's all. We're not gonna die, not while I've got my Super Scope and its enchanted bowling balls to protect you with. Besides, we did kick Siren's butt when we set you free, didn't we?" She removed 9-Volt's helmet, and cuddled him warmly. He nodded in agreement, before closing his eyes for a snooze.

"That's right, sweetie," said 5-Volt, "that's right. We aren't gonna let anything bad happen to you."

Phoebe closed her eyes too, still holding 9-Volt closer to herself affectionately with 5-Volt watching over them. Meanwhile, Mona smiled, and returned to assisting Cute Pink and Blaze Bomber.

[End BGM]

* * *

[Stage BGM: Sandopolis Zone Act 1 (Sonic & Knuckles)]

Far from our temporary sanctuary spot, we Four Contras led Delta Force across the desert. Before that, we made a quick stop in Cairo to ask one of the civilians about GolemBase's location, whilst turning on our translator devices by setting them to translate from Arabic.

"أنا سمعتها من صديق كان الحظ قد هربوا. يمكنك السفر إلى الجنوب من هنا ثم غرب نهر النيل. هناك ستجد الهرم قاعدة يسمونه جوليم"، بل هي في جميع التكاليف. قليلة جدا وقد هرب العدو القبض على حياتهم. (I overheard this from a friend of mine who was fortunate to have escaped. You'll have to travel south from here, then west from the Nile River. There, you will find the pyramid they call GolemBase, but be real careful at all costs. Very few have evaded enemy capture with their lives.)"

After thanking the civilian, we took our leave to save Egypt. Because it was too hot to travel on foot alone, we had to rent some abandoned halftracks belonging to the enemy. While we weren't surprised that the halftracks were likely based on stolen technology, we were indeed surprised to see the enemies commandeering these halftracks were actually undead soldiers. In fact, their outfits appeared to be similar to the ones worn by German soldiers during World War II.

"Seriously?" Arctic was baffled. "Undead soldiers in German uniforms?"

"Not just the undead soldiers," Bill concurred. "They represent the German Africa Corps, or 'Afrika Korps' in terms of popularity."

"The questions are," Lance wondered, "what are they doing here in the daytime, and how did they come back from the dead?"

"I think Golem Bomber has something to do with it," I said. "Whenever he transforms into Golem Phantom like from _Bomberman Tournament_, he can summon the undead."

"Yeah," concurred Ami, "but those soldiers aren't the evil Bomber-zombies he brought up during that boss battle. Might have something to do with Red Falcon's DNA..." Eventually, the undead Afrika Korps spotted us. They roared, and charged forth.

"WHOA! I think this calls for a big strike of a lifetime!" With that said, Arctic Bomber pulled out a Bowling Bomb, activated its internal fuse, and bowled it at the zombies.

"Here it comes!" The zombies were quickly blown to bits by the fiery blast, prompting the ex-Hate Bomber to cheer. "STEEERRRIKE! Ha ha ha! See, Aaron? You DO need me as your Bowling Queen after all!"

Bill prodded her in the back with the butt of his M16. "Ow! Ugh...you're welcome! Boy, that's gratitude for ya..."

"Don't push it, Arctic," warned Bill. "You're not his Bowling Queen, and he's not your Pin King either. You're on probation, remember?"

Arctic Bomber scoffed. "Yeah, yeah, I know that!"

"You say you know," said Lance, "but your actions say otherwise. Now c'mon, we need help against those undead soldiers!"

The odds appeared to be stacked against us, but like with _Final Fantasy_ and some other video games, the undead are weak against fire, and not just holy power (i.e. the Cure spell). Ami blew the zombies to bits with her Fire Bombs, whereas the Delta Force operatives followed up with their flamethrowers. The battle was long and brutal during our long drive to GolemBase...and as soon as we finally reached it, two hours had passed. To make things worse, a few stray meteors struck the halftracks, forcing us to bail out before they exploded. Mad Dog quickly pulled out his communicator to report the damage.

"Capt - I mean, Blaze Bomber, sir! The enemy halftracks we hijacked in order to reach GolemBase have been destroyed! Luckily, we escaped just before the flaming meteors detonated on them!" The African-American sergeant handed his communicator over to Scorpion.

"How are things on your end?" he asked.

_Not good,_ said Blaze Bomber. _Two of our Star Beacons have just run out of energy, and we're down to our last one. You've got to destroy GolemBase and the ICBMs within!_

Ami spoke up, "Hang in there, Blaze! Tell Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, Cute Pink, and also 9-Volt's mom not to worry!"

_Alright, but try not to die this time! Those ICBMs could spell the end of mankind!_

As soon as we hung up, a large stone golem came out of the volcanic pyramid wall above the entrance, and jumped down on us! It was a giant, stone statue of Golem Bomber, brought to life! "Evasive maneuvers, everyone!" warned Bill, immediately prompting us to get out of the way just before the giant statue landed on us.

"We need to get inside GolemBase!" shouted Lance.

"Red and I will help Delta Force hold it off," said Ashley. "The rest of you have to stop those hellish ICBMs!"

Cheerful White nodded. "Okay! C'mon, fellas!"

Bill, Lance, White, Black, and Arctic Bomber followed me and Ami inside GolemBase, but the statue blocked our way.

"I don't think it plans on letting anybody in," said Yumi. "Okay, Delta Force, let's show that giant stone statue who's boss around here!"

"We're with you, Yumi!" acknowledged Mad Dog.

"I don't know who or what brought it to life," said Scorpion, "but we're crushing it anyway! Let's move!"

The Golem Bomber statue launched its fists like missiles at our group, bashing us in but not badly. The fists then retracted back to the statue's arms, before it lifted its left foot to stomp down next. Arctic Bomber blew its left leg off with her Bowling Bombs, but the statue managed to regenerate its damaged leg with ease. Everyone tried destroying the statue with everything at their disposal, ranging from RPGs to C4s...but the story was the same. That's when we realized...

"Wait a minute..." wondered Yumi. "That's almost like that stone statue from _Sonic & Knuckles_ on Sega Genesis! It could only be defeated by making it jump into the quicksand!"

"I see a large quicksand nearby," said Mad Dog. "What's the scoop?"

"Obviously, anyone who's heavy - man or robot - can't jump from a quicksand so easily!"

"In other words," summarized Scorpion, "if we lure the large statue there, it won't be able to get back out if it jumps into the quicksand."

While being cautious as to not accidentally step on the quicksand, the group lured the giant statue away from the entrance. It shot some laser beams from its visor to inflict damage, but the group ignored the pain and stood tall. The moment the statue made a big jump, Ashley, Red, and Yumi led the others out of the way. Eventually, the Golem Bomber statue stomped onto the quicksand, causing it to sink. That's when Ami finished it off by blowing its head off with a pumped up Thunder Bomb. As its head was sent flying off, it fired one last laser beam not at the heroes, but at its now-headless body - accidentally. The resulting damage blew up the entire statue, reducing it to small pieces of scrap metal and rocks.

[End BGM]

* * *

"Whatever that thing was," said Mad Dog, "it's nothing but scrap. Good work, ladies and gentlemen! Aaron and Ami's crew will be dealing with Golem Bomber inside that pyramid of his."

"Meanwhile," added Scorpion, "we'll need to stay outside and take out the rest of the undead Afrika Korps."

[Boss BGM: Magnus von Grapple Battle (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)]

Suddenly, a giant mech came crashing down on the ground in front of the entrance. It was ten feet tall, with retractable arms and legs, and spiked balls for hands. Sitting atop its torso was none other than Purple Basilisk. Of course, we weren't too surprised to see him again. "What, nothing to say? I was hoping you'd compliment on my Spike-o-Tron, but I digress."

_That mech looks like the one Deadeye Joe used in one of the boss fights back in Contra: Hard Corps_, Ami thought.

"Then again, I didn't expect Mosquito and Siren to completely annihilate the lot of you, since their main objective was to slow you down. And they played their parts just right, so now it's my turn to take the stage! All I gotta do is slow you down till the nukes come home, and nobody - that's right, _nobody_ - is allowed inside GolemBase without beating me first. That stone statue of Golem Bomber was only a prelude compared to me. Anyway, I'd also say 'you gotta catch me', but I won't need to. Oh, and don't bother trying to fight back; my Spike-o-Tron is reinforced with Super Titanium alloy!"

"Not if any of us has Star power, whether from the Four Contras' holy-powered weapons or our Star Drinks," said Arctic Bomber. "Let's see you and your buttinski Chaotic Bombers try and land me in jail again!"

"Now what kinda retort is that?! No matter, you're just as stubborn as ever, Arctic Bomber..."

"Pshhh! More like _ready to kick your ass!_"

The Spike-o-Tron began jumping around in a frenzy, and did a little cocky dance with its arms up high. "Look, Contras! I'm right here! Shoot me!" Bill, Lance, Ami, and I ran up close and fired away, but Purple Baslisk's mech jumped away at the last second. Then he wound up its left arm and swung it down the ground at us, followed by the right arm, only he swung it in midair when we jumped over the left arm, knocking us over.

"That's right! Feel the true power! The Four Contras went down the Sahara Desert, to fetch a pail of pain!" Purple Basilisk backed up his taunt by flinging spiked bombs from his Spike-o-Tron, and slamming both its spiked-ball hands down on the ground. We were hurt once more, though we shut our eyes quickly before the sand could blind us. As he focused on Yumi, Ashley, Red, and the Delta Force soldiers (who were busy killing more Nazi zombies), we attacked him from behind with our guns and Ami's Thunder Bombs. Arctic Bomber followed up by climbing on top, and repeatedly punched Purple Basilisk until he shook her off. She wasn't intending on kicking him off his own mech; she merely delayed him long enough for me, Ami, Bill, and Lance to blow the Spike-o-Tron apart.

"Hey! Do you have any freakin' idea how much it cost me to build that?!" Though the mech was reduced to a torso with its arms and legs blown off, Purple Basilisk made the best of it by hopping up and down in hopes of crushing us flat. We couldn't afford to let this fight drag out any longer since its purpose was to waste the time we had left to dismantle Golem Bomber's illegally-modified ICBMs. Thus, I borrowed Ami's Thunder Bomb, while she froze the mech with her pumped-up Ice Bomb. Having predicted that Purple Basilisk would hop his mech up and down just to break free of the ice, we waited for just the right moment. The exact second the Spike-o-Tron's torso broke off the ice, I hurled the Thunder Bomb like a baseball as hard as I could, finally destroying it in the ensuing electrical explosion. Purple Basilisk quickly hit the eject button, flinging himself out of the exploding mech with his seat as a makeshift jet pack.

[End BGM]

Despite losing the battle, he cackled anyway. "How predictable, and yet you insisted on scrapping my Spike-o-Tron in the first place. My incentive, as I said before, was to waste your precious time! This was all part of the act, which I played just right! In short, by winning this battle, you've lost World War III! I'd bail out and hide under a big rock if I were you, because the nukes are about to take off in less than...oh my, that's not a lot of time for you, is it? A bit less than 2 hours are all you get, thanks to Mosquito Bomber, Siren Bomber, and me! See you in hell!"

Thus, the crazed lieutenant teleported himself out of Egypt, whereas we returned to our original plan: Cheerful White, Cool Black, Arctic Bomber, Bill, Lance, Ami, and I entered GolemBase at last, while the rest of our allies would do what they can and destroy the rest of the Nazi zombies. However, should our time reach its deadline at 1 hour remaining, Yumi, Ashley, and Red have permission to call Blaze Bomber in for evacuation...

During that time, we'd need to move fast and avoid as many random encounters as possible in order to reach Golem Bomber's lair alive, or die trying.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Time grows short, for the artificial volcano itself is about to erupt in a couple more hours!


	10. Averting death!

The Contras only have about a couple hours left to prevent mass destruction, leaving little to no room for error. Unavoidable or not, a time-critical mission is typically never done without having to deal with enemy opposition, especially if their main goal's to slow down the heroes.

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Averting death!

[Danger BGM: Crisis Mission (Metroid Fusion)]

_Mission 3C: GolemBase  
Time grows short, as the Contras have less then 2 hours to destroy GolemBase and the illegally-stockpiled ICBMs within.  
Only by stopping Golem Bomber and Volcano Bomber shall the death of mankind in Europe and Africa be averted...  
August 30, 20XX  
9:54 AM_

Never one to let us die at the hands of somebody else but herself, Arctic Bomber frantically led the way throughout GolemBase, killing countless Nazi zombies in the process. "We've got to hurry, and stop those ICBM thingies NOW!" We were all caught in surprise by her unusual concern about the oncoming destruction, but allowed her to continue. "I mean, seriously! If those evil missiles blow up Europe and Africa just to kill us, then Aaron would die as well! Nobody, and I mean _NOBODY_, EVER screws him up but me! That's why I've come inside GolemBase with you guys, to cool Golem Bomber and Volcano Bomber's jets!"

"Now we're surprised you even care about his safety," said Bill.

"A true Bowling Queen never leaves a fellow bowler to die! I'm gonna smash Golem Bomber 100 times over, till he cries to his mommy and stops threatening to blow us all sky-high! This way!"

"Whoa, wait up!" shouted Lance, as the unusually aggressive Mistress of the Cold continued to lead the way, despite not knowing where Golem Bomber's lair was located. She didn't even care we'd have to survive plenty of booby-traps along the way. There were more undead Nazi soldiers of the Afrika Korps coming at us, but that didn't stop Arctic Bomber from freezing and blowing them away. Even Cheerful White and Cool Black were amazed at what Arctic's doing to help us, though we were supposed to avoid as many random encounters as possible. Throughout our exploration, we tried to contact Penny Crygor for some helpful power-ups, but because of GolemBase's thick exterior, all attempts were futile.

"You better watch out, you evil Nazi freak-shows! This Bowling Queen's gonna literally freeze you in your tracks!" The undead soldiers jumped towards her, only to miss. She got out a can of Star Drink that she "borrowed" from Cheerful White and Cool Black, and shook it real hard. "Have you zombies seen this one?" Then she opened the pull tab, releasing the energy drink itself with force since she shook the can repeatedly. Henceforth, its substance sent the zombies disintegrating both from the force of its spraying and the Star energy within. As soon as the room was clear of all Nazi zombies, we ran forth once again - taking care to avoid lava spouts coming from the seemingly bottomless pits. Eventually, we found some minecarts, which we hopped on to proceed further.

"Are you sure these will get us closer?" asked Cheerful White.

"If we don't get killed, then yes," answered Cool Black.

Try as we might, we were still unable to avoid as much contact with the Nazi zombies as possible. They roared as they threw spears at our minecarts. Typically, zombies couldn't maneuver very well, let alone wield a spear or even gun properly, but apparently Golem Bomber's zombies were able to hold their ground. Otherwise, when not throwing spears, they'd just charge forth mindlessly in hopes of swiping us to death and feeding on our brains. After all, what zombie _wouldn't_ feast on a victim's brain? Either way, as soon as we reached the end of the tracks, we jumped off our minecarts and continued running as fast as we could. All our fighting along the way has done nothing but reduce the time we had left to take out the ICBMs. Meanwhile, Penny finally managed to teleport some power-up pods directly from Crygor Labs for us to shoot open. Bill picked up the Ice Breath, Lance got the Crash Missiles, and I snagged the Drill Shot.

Afterwards, a large stone head with a beak-like nose came crashing down from above, splattering lava around the area. Bill used the Ice Breath from his M16 machine gun to neutralize the splotches of lava, while Lance attacked the stone head with his Crash Missiles. Then it spat out some energy orbs, which we avoided with discretion before we blew it to gravel. Though the point of the fight was to eat up whatever little time we had left to avert the launch, we had no other alternative but to destroy the stone head in order to go forward. Just then, Boxer Bomber and Trigger Bomber jumped out, revealing the destroyed stone head to be a machine.

"Boy, what a thrill of a fight you've given us today!" beamed Trigger Bomber. "I was gonna do more than just lock you in, but it seems there's no need this time."

"The meteors are about ready to take off and incinerate your kind in the flames of hell!" added Boxer Bomber. "We all knew you were gonna come here, but then again, I'm sure you already know by now. So long, foos!"

Lance, still eyeing the fleeing Chaotic Bombers, advised against chasing them down. "We'll have to let them go for now. That means you, Arctic Bomber."

* * *

The Mistress of the Cold sighed, but went along with us anyway. "Right..." Finally, we reached Golem Bomber's lair, but just before we stepped inside, Ami and I recalled the time Magnet Bomber tricked us with laser-trip mines back in his personal lair at MagnetBase. Neither of us were about to fall for the same cowardly act again, when Ami simply tossed a Fire Bomb at the stone gate. It exploded, blowing the gate open but suddenly not setting off a chain reaction inside. As it turned out Golem Bomber apparently isn't as cowardly as Magnet Bomber was, we stepped inside but remained cautious. We saw Golem and Volcano standing in front of us, having heard the explosion while they were busy preparing the illegally-modified ICBMs for launch.

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Tower of Zot (Final Fantasy II/IV)]

"Was this really necessary?" questioned Golem Bomber.

"Let's just say we were checking for landmines," replied Bill.

"Landmines? Pshhh! Why would we wanna booby-trap my own lair if we're gonna waste all of Europe and Africa anyway? Still, you've got some nerve coming here." He paused momentarily to glance at Cheerful White and Cool Black. "Ah, so you've managed to save Shiro and Kuro from Pretty Bomber's reign, eh?"

Cheerful White corrected, "Evil Pretty, you mean."

Cool Black added, "We've come to stop you again like before!"

"I'm afraid this won't be like last time, Bomber-boys. You wanna know why? No, ask _him_, not me. He's the one who came up with the idea for disguising the ICBMs as flaming meteors."

"The point is," said Volcano Bomber, "I'm assisting him in doing the one thing I couldn't do last time: to incinerate you! Golem, let's show them our power!"

"That's right! You're all fated to be killed here anyways by us: Golem Bomber and Volcano Bomber!"

Arctic Bomber scoffed. "No need to keep hammering it in, jackasses! You try to screw up this planet with your nukes, you're gonna get what's coming to you in spades!"

"Boy, _somebody_ seems kinda rude lately," muttered Golem Bomber. "But it's no concern of mine or Volcano's. I think our transformations oughta give you an attitude re-adjustment before you die!"

Lance interrupted, "Not if we can help it! Aaron and Ami cheated death so Bill and I could help them stop Magnet Bomber!"

Volcano Bomber smirked mockingly. "And you two cheated death to return the favor by destroying Pretty Bomber, I presume? Enough talk! Your time of incineration has come!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Beast of Beat 9/8 (Metal Slug 7)]

Golem Bomber and Volcano Bomber both broke the dark Smash Balls they pulled out, transforming them into their respective forms: Golem Phantom, and Volcano Golem. Thankfully, I kept the Drill Shot for my Contra Rifle during our battle inside GolemBase, but chances are, it wouldn't be so easy this time. Immediately, Volcano made a brief announcement: "Don't even think that the room we're in will guarantee you a victory! Look below here and see!" The center of the lair gave way, revealing a lava pit; Volcano Bomber jumped on in.

"Wait a minute!" I protested. "There's something wrong with this picture! I mean, for one, there's no way the Sahara Desert, let alone Egypt, could have an active volcano!"

"That's because GolemBase is an artificial active volcano," answered Golem Bomber, "courtesy of Volcano Bomber! Like I said, this was all his idea."

Ami huffed. "Doesn't mean we won't shut it down!"

Arctic Bomber stepped up front, eager to dish out the pain. "Golem! Volcano! In the name of those who love bowling, I will kill you!"

Volcano Bomber taunted, "Ha ha ha! Stupid Bomber-girl! Don't you know your ice powers can't stop us, because of the Super Titanium alloy?"

"Come forth, my undead minions!" called Golem Bomber. "Golem Phantom beckons thee!"

"Oh no, you don't!" I interrupted. "Up, up, down, down!"

Ami followed, "Left, right, left, right!"

"B, A, Select, and Start!" Ami and I shouted simultaneously, activating our 30-hit Konami Barriers to protect ourselves from any molten rock thrown around, while Bill and Lance followed suit. Golem Bomber summoned the zombie Bombermen, along with the Nazi zombies, to do battle. He shot out some fireballs from his hands, while the zombies charged forth and threw some explosives (bombs and potato masher-shaped German grenades) at us. Ami blew them back with her Wind Bombs, taking out the zombies - and putting them on wall-mounted "revenge carts." Meanwhile, Volcano Bomber threw a few rock-hard punches, but our Konami Barriers took some damage for us.

"I see you have acquired better protection," he said, "but even that has its limits compared to mine! I promise you, this won't be like last time."

The Hellfire Fiend threw some lava bombs from his hands, doing more damage to our Konami Barriers despite our efforts to dodge around. We couldn't afford to get exhausted upon the expiration; stopping Volcano Bomber was our primary concern. Throughout the entire fight, I had made certain not to lose my Drill Shot since it was by far the only weapon hard enough to penetrate Volcano Bomber's rock-hard body whenever he transformed into Volcano Golem. Meanwhile, Cheerful White and Cool Black shared their Star Drink with each other, giving their bombs the power to penetrate Golem Bomber's Super Titanium-reinforced body.

Blaze Bomber's voice came on through our communicators, obscured by static due to GolemBase's thick exterior. _...read me? Can you hear me...Star Beacons expired...we're defenseless!_

"Sounds to me your precious time has already run out," mocked Golem Bomber. "You can't hope to shut down our base, much less dismantle our artificial ICBMs!"

"Your pathetic barriers are reaching their limits as well," taunted Volcano Bomber. "You have lost!"

"Aaron," said Ami, "we can't use our Final Smashes while our Konami Barriers are on."

"I know. It's the fail-safe mechanisms built-in to our Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch to prevent overcharging."

"Then we'll just have to go out in style! Just like last time, I'll draw Volcano Bomber's attention, while you expose his energy core with your Drill Shot! Don't worry about whether his attack patterns have changed or not, just make sure to hold onto the Drill Shot."

Just then, Arctic Bomber interrupted our brief moment. "Ahem! Less chat, more killing already! We're outta freakin' time, you know!"

"Not yet," I replied calmly. "We have but one more card to play."

Time was running out. We had no time left to move around; Ami distracted Volcano Bomber while I opened fire on his body with my Drill Shot, eventually exposing his energy core. Cheerful White, Cool Black, and Arctic Bomber were gaining the upper hand along with Bill and Lance, as they weakened Golem Bomber's form. Ami ended the fight with her Thunder Bombs, causing the energy core to malfunction and detonate, killing Volcano Bomber. We avoided the flying debris as they took out Golem Bomber and his zombie minions. He began exploding, and an orange streak of light flew out of his body before the blinding explosion occurred. Now it was all coming back: when we defeated the Dastardly Bombers, we barely saw streaks of light flying out of their exploding bodies. The blue one was Magnet Bomber; the pink being Evil Pretty Bomber's...It seemed that the Five Dastardly Bombers have the ability to flee in their spirit forms, despite their actual bodies exploding upon defeat.

[End BGM]

We ran into the cell room and released more of our imprisoned friends: Acrobat Aqua, Young Cricket, and Master Mantis. Afterwards, we rushed toward the controls for the meteors and ICBMs, and altered them to self-destruct. We were all too exhausted to work our way out of GolemBase, but luckily, we had an emergency exit gadget Penny built for us (of course, by combining Star power with the purified Red Falcon chips). We held each other's hands, and teleported out. Once we got out, we led everyone to safe distance, all while radioing Blaze Bomber our current location.

The end results were: the GolemBase was destroyed in the huge explosion with no nuclear radiation coming out of the exploded ICBMs, much to our relief, and we all returned to our helicopters safely as the following minutes passed. It was a hot mission, but we finished it. In fact, we've just saved millions of innocent lives from certain death. Since we Four Contras were too exhausted from having used the Konami Barriers to continue, we headed on back to Diamond City, CA, in the United States for now...

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Europe and Africa are both safe at last, and that just leaves Plasma Bomber and Brain Bomber standing.


	11. The return of the Japanese Empire

Three down, two to go!...though it was a close call for our heroes.

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 10: The "return" of the Japanese Empire...

[Interlude BGM: Environmental Intrigue (Metroid Fusion)]

Much later after having averted the death of mankind all over Europe and Africa, we had returned to the US to discuss the situation further with Penny Crygor in Diamond City. Upon telling her what happened, she became intrigued. "So...Golem Bomber did manage to summon Nazi zombies of the Afrika Korps, and not just the usual zombie Bombermen he brought into battle as Golem Phantom in _Bomberman Tournament_..."

"Well, duh," said Ashley.

"Shhh," hushed Bill. "Let the science girl talk."

Penny continued, "Then it all makes sense now. When the Red Falcon Empire revived the Five Dastardly Bombers, they must've injected the alien cell of Red Falcon into their bodies."

"Of course," I pondered. "Why else did Ami and I think Magnet Bomber told us he and his partners served Red Falcon now?"

"That alien cell sounds and looks dangerous," added Ami, "as if there's no telling what it could do! Come to think of it, this seems to bring back memories of _Contra: Hard Corps_ on Sega Genesis..."

"In other words," said Lance, "that thing must have given Golem Bomber the ability to summon all kinds of zombies, rather than just the undead Bombermen."

Bill nodded in agreement. "Same here with Evil Pretty Bomber - she had the power to pollute the seas with that alien cell infused in her body."

Yumi thought momentarily. "Speaking of which, had you guys not stopped those ICBMs, the impending doom might've eventually contaminated the entire planet with nuclear radiation in a few days' time, if not weeks."

"And if we did not kill Evil Pretty," said Lance, "then her vile pollution would've poisoned all of the oceans on Earth permanently."

Blaze Bomber nodded. "Ever since some of us were given Star energy, it seemed Red Falcon now views us as a threat once again. As long as the Four Contras and I are still alive and able to defend us all to the bitter end..."

"Yeah," added Mona, "but we can't forget that he and his army still pose a threat."

"Plasma Bomber and Brain Bomber are still around, but where can they be?" questioned 9-Volt.

"If I recall from _Bomberman Tournament_," answered Phoebe, "Plasma Bomber froze one of the four regions on planet Phantarion upon his arrival. It's probably no coincidence he's hiding somewhere up north."

Lance suggested, "It's a possibility. Russia, China, Japan, or even Canada. We don't know where he is."

[End BGM]

But Arctic Bomber refused to comprehend our conversation, still bent on her petty revenge. "I don't care where he's hiding! I think I heard Siren Bomber mention his name before Warlock Bomber melted my crystal castle. I'll bet Plasma Bomber's responsible for ordering that indiscriminate attack on MY private property! If I ever find him, I swear to Mihaele I'm gonna rip that antenna ball clean off his helmet, and shove an icicle spear up his ass!"

I raised my voice to interrupt her ranting. "STOP. I know you're still upset about your castle being completely destroyed, but we can't have you going rogue!"

Arctic Bomber raised her hands childishly in response. "I'm not going rogue, stupid! I'm just gonna show him what happens when he and his merry followers defy me! Jeez!"

Bill shouted, "That's enough, young lady! Do you want to help us stop the Five Dastardly Bombers, along with the Chaotic Bombers and your two ex-comrades, or would you rather go directly back to jail?"

Arctic Bomber grumbled at the thought for a moment. "Okay, fine! But only as long as I can get back what I lost, including my precious bowling ball! Like I said before, there's no way I'm going to jail for you nor anybody else!"

"No wonder you always lost when you were still a Hate Bomber," said Lance. "You're too selfish to even think of your own life or the ones you used to fight alongside with! Now, I strongly suggest you be a good Bomber-girl, stop with your tantrums, and help us defeat the rest of the Dastardly Bombers so we can get to Red Falcon. When it's all over, then we can ask the US Government to drop you out of that 'Most Wanted Villainesses' list."

"You guys pinky-finger promise?"

"Yes," answered Cute Pink. "We pinky-finger promise."

Before we ended the long briefing, we were interrupted with a broadcast on Dr. Crygor's computer monitor. When the static cleared, it showed an image of a man in what appeared to be a Japanese stronghold. It was no ordinary man, but rather a Prime Minister. He was standing in front of the logo that represented the Empire of Japan a long time ago during World War II. We had thought the empire itself dissolved for good after both events occurred: the end of World War II in 1945, and the enforcement of the Constitution of Japan in 1947. Even Ami and Yumi, whose home country was indeed Japan, thought the same we Americans did.

Bill gasped. "No...it can't be! Hideki Tojo, the Prime Minister of Japan during World War II?"

"The one and only," said Tojo with a Japanese accent. Surprisingly, though, he was speaking fluent English even when we weren't wearing our translator devices.

Then Lance replied, "I thought you were hanged on December 23, 1948, for the war crimes you've committed! The attack on Pearl Harbor, the attack against China, the massacre against civilians and POWs alike, everything!"

"It is indeed true I was hanged, but...when I was dead, I stumbled upon a strange but useful power called immortality. With it, I came back to life, and started rebuilding the Empire of Japan underground. It took many years to do so...Shocking, isn't it? Yes, but is true now. Times change, don't they? The people who made that constitution thought it dissolved the Empire of Japan, but they thought wrong! The moment I began rebuilding the empire, I became its ruler...but not the complete emperor of Japan itself. Hear me out: we, the new-and-improved Empire of Japan are coming for you. Ever since the green-clad man named Plasma Bomber arrived, he gave us the power we need to terminate you. You will bow down before us, or you will cease to exist!"

Ami stammered momentarily before regaining her thoughts. "You...you're not real! You're dead! The Empire of Japan was already long gone nearly 70 years ago! And you're not even speaking your native tongue..."

"That's because the power of immortality gave me the ability to speak English."

"Listen to us," I interrupted, "the Red Falcon Empire is bad news, especially the alien leader himself!"

"My best friend and I are co-leaders of the Four Contras, sworn to protect the innocent and uphold the law!"

Tojo huffed disapprovingly. "You dare defy your motherland by siding with this American man?! You will regret the day you chose not to serve Plasma Bomber, the new and permanent Emperor of Japan! I am his right-handed man! Our soldiers that fought in World War II will obliterate you!"

When "Tojo" finished, the monitor shut off. Since plenty of us know history as well as we could recall, there was something fishy going on, especially when the supposedly "revived" Prime Minister mentioned Plasma Bomber. Blaze Bomber explained, "This man is lying to us. You were right, the real Tojo was hanged for his war crimes back in 1948. It appears someone, or something, might be masquerading as him. And there's only one vile, two-timing being capable of impersonating people, much less the already-long-gone Empire of Japan!"

Bill, Lance, Ami, and I exclaimed in unison: "Metamorph Bomber!"

Mona added, "But we destroyed him last month, didn't we? Then again, it's not surprising Red Falcon probably revived him, too. On the other hand, if the Empire of the Rising Sun itself did 'come back from the dead', then what of its soldiers as well?"

Arctic Bomber suggested, "Either they were cloned, or just the very same Nazi zombies we had to put up with in Egypt."

"But there aren't anymore of them since we killed Golem Bomber," said Lance.

"Well, I don't care how they came back! So, _Emperor_ Plasma wants to give Japan a bad name just like he ordered the attack on my castle, does he?! I'll show him what for! C'mon, fellas! The boys and girls of Japan are counting on us to blow him to kingdom come! And even expose the 'new-and-improved' Empire of Japan for the fraud it really is! After all, you did say it was already long gone 70-something years ago! We must do all this for both America and Japan! Do it for Nintendo, Hudson Soft, and Konami! And...do it for my castle and my Glacier Ball!" She was given a blank stare, but quickly brushed it off. "Erm...I mean, do it for little 9-Volt and his guardian angels! The Mistress of the Cold and Bowling Queen beckons thee!"

Then she grinned nervously. We had never seen her this motivated in doing the right thing, such as stopping Plasma Bomber from slandering Japan's good name. However, we'd have to convince Delta Force of the US Army, that the "Empire of Japan" we're about to face isn't for real. "And most of all, Aaron, I'm gonna do it for you! Since I was nice enough to join forces with you and your pals, I'll teach you how to bowl the right way - _my _way!"

I muttered, "Um...sure thing, I guess."

"Let's not go around boasting too much, Arctic," said Ami. "We have a big masquerade to expose." And henceforth, we departed for the CrygorCopter to join up with Delta Force, while some of our friends volunteered to stay with Penny and help finish modifying the Contra Cruiser for space combat.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a military base in Los Angeles, CA, a pair of robot pilots approached a reconnaissance aircraft, known as the SR-20XX "Blackbird" - a successor to the Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird", now piloted by airforce-intelligent robots. The human personnel made certain the aircraft was fully fueled and capable of avoiding oncoming fire from any of Red Falcon's forces above the skies of Earth. As soon as the crewmen cleared the runway, the robot pilots - each with a male voice - took off up high in the sky, and headed towards our position: the "Pacific Theater" itself.

[Stage BGM: Ocean (Contra 4)]

_Mission 4A: The skies above the Pacific Theater  
We had just received word that for reasons unknown, the Empire of Japan has returned to power roughly 70 years after World War II.  
However, suspicions arose when the supposedly "revived" Tojo mentioned Plasma Bomber, one of the Five Dastardly Bombers.  
Like the Four Contras pointed out earlier, it's possible that Plasma Bomber is staging this huge masquerade.  
August 31, 20XX  
5:13 AM_

_Deltas Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow. Do you copy? This is Captain Air-Droid Unit 612, codenamed Big-Eye One, speaking._

_Major Air-Droid Unit 613, codenamed Big-Eye Two, reporting. What's your status, over?_

Mad Dog replied via radio, _We're getting close to Japan. According to the Four Contras' reports, the 'Empire of Japan' is actually a huge masquerade, planned by Plasma Bomber himself._

Scorpion added, _We don't know for sure whether the Japanese soldiers we were fending off along the way were actually zombies, or humanoid clones._

Air-Droid 612 processed the conversation. _One moment...done. According to our advanced radar system, the soldiers are indeed cloned. They are using stolen air and naval weaponry._

_No crap, Sherlock,_ said Mad Dog.

_Delta Red,_ warned Air-Droid 613, _you have three Kamikaze and five rocketmen approaching in your helicopters' directions. Exercise caution._

_Roger that, Big-Eye,_ acknowledged Scorpion._  
_

Meanwhile, below the Earth's atmosphere, we avoided the Kamikaze planes and shot them down. Meanwhile, one of the rocketmen latched onto the helicopter Blaze Bomber was piloting, but Lance was quick to shoot him. The damage inflicted, suddenly turned the Japanese soldier into an alien soldier...

"Ah-ha!" surmised Lance. "I knew this was too good to be true."

"A real human being's blood is red, and not green," said Bill.

Ami added, "Then all the soldiers are indeed Red Falcon's brethren in disguise - complete with some kind of holographic belt you shot!"

"Heh. Figures." smirked Arctic Bomber, booting the alien soldier off our chopper, but not before blowing him and his jetpack up with her Bowling Bomb. Your turn, fellas! Report the situation to Big-Eye now!"

"I'm on it, Arctic. Big-Eye, this is Delta Blue! We've confirmed that the supposed 'Empire of Japan' really is just a big group of masquerading aliens working for Red Falcon!"

"Yeah!" said Ami. "They must've used those holographic belts to disguise themselves perfectly! We just took down one of the rocketmen and found it out for real!"

_We copy, Delta Blue. All units of Delta Force, be advised: the enemy is not the Empire of Japan. Repeat, the enemy is not the Empire of Japan at all._

_Roger that, Big-Eye,_ said Mad Dog. _We're movin' in to show those alien bastards what happens when they impersonate a military force from another country!_

Under the Big-Eye Air-Droids' guidance, we flew across the sky to take down more of the fakers, despite some casualties. Cheerful White, Cool Black, Ashley, and Red were still safe within Mad Dog's chopper, while Scorpion's was still up-and-running. Fortunately, for all of us, the stolen Japanese craft weren't reinforced with Super-Titanium alloy, which meant we didn't have to hold back. Still, we had to keep our cool and stay sharp, and not let our adrenaline get the better of us. Of course, that went double for Arctic Bomber as well. Sooner or later, we came across an unusually huge battleship.

"Big-Eye," said Blaze Bomber, "we're going in the huge battleship on the surface of the ocean to take it out!"

_That is a highly dangerous operation,_ warned Air-Droid 612. _Scanners indicate this battleship's energy core must be destroyed within._

_It is well-protected by anti-air turrets and missile launchers,_ added Air-Droid 613. _Are you sure you want to do this, Delta Blue?_

Blaze Bomber nodded. "We will do so, or die trying. Over and out, Big-Eye."

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Tunnel Boss (Contra 4)]

We flew downwards, with the other helicopters of Delta Blue following our lead. We avoided gunfire from the anti-air turrets and destroyed the incoming missiles. From there, we managed to get inside the large battleship to fly our way to the core. Along the way, though, a couple of our helicopters were shot down by inner-defenses; only two remained. Still, that didn't stop us from reaching the core.

Just then, we were called by none other than Trigger Bomber, who flew down in his personal UFO. _Don't you DARE! I've come to make sure you really die this time!_

With that, he fired a barrage of missiles from his ship, damaging our helicopters a little but not on the rotor blades. Besides, if the rotor blades were damaged, we'd be screwed by the time we hit the surface. That's when Blaze Bomber asked Bill and Lance to take over, while he flew out to destroy Trigger Bomber's craft. While the dogfight went on, Bill and Lance focused on the battleship's energy core. Ami and 5-Volt manned a cannon on the left side of our chopper with their makeshift cannonballs: their Thunder Bombs. 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink, on the other hand, used a cannon on the right side with their own makeshift cannonballs: Pink's normal bombs. Arctic Bomber wasn't about to let the others spoil her chance, but Mona gave her a firm grip, signaling the Mistress of the Cold to stay put for now. Along with said cannonballs, I used the armor-piercing machine gun, attached to the front of the CrygorCopter (hence the name "nose cannon" when it comes to battle helicopters), to damage the core further.

The trigger-happy Chaotic Bomber was outraged, but even with the machine guns and missile launchers at his disposal, he could not get far as Blaze Bomber was already destroying his craft with the thrown Molotov cocktails. Sooner or later, Trigger Bomber was shot down.

_Dammit! Beaten by punks like Blaze Bomber...I've gotten rusty lately, haven't I... _His last words were cut off as his ship crashed into the energy core and exploded, killing him instantly.

"Now to get back on board with the Four Contras," said Blaze Bomber. "That core looks ready to blow!"

[End BGM]

With the core damaged to critical overload, we stopped firing and retreated from the doomed battleship. We were able to make it back out and back in formation with the rest of Delta Force just before the unusually huge battleship detonated in a nuclear-esque explosion. Afterwards, Blaze Bomber got out the chopper's communicator. "Big-Eye, this is Delta Blue reporting. Two of our helicopters were gunned down along the way...but we took out that huge battleship along with Trigger Bomber."

_Roger that, Delta Blue,_ answered Air-Droid 612. _The enemy clones piloting the stolen Japanese aircraft have been confirmed as wiped out._

_You are clear to move in to Plasma Bomber's confirmed location,_ said Air-Droid 613. _Be advised: there is an unusual cold weather in Japan, when it is actually summer._

After a rather rough dogfight, we had reached Tokyo, Japan, safely. Arctic Bomber, on the other hand, was motivated by her urge to exact revenge on Plasma Bomber for having planned the attack on her castle and the theft of her bowling ball. In fact, she was still dead-set on destroying Mosquito Bomber and Siren Bomber. But before we went any further, we wanted her to tell us all about what she had done last month, still concerned about how she single-handedly broke into King Billy Bling's castle in Hollywood.

"Okay, I'll explain everything just so you can stop being so damn paranoid." Arctic Bomber took a deep breath for a few seconds. "There's this greedy king, named Billy Bling, who rules the so-called 'kingdom' in Hollywood, CA, known as the Money Dynasty. Whenever he's not so busy gathering all sorts of treasures, he's often attending casinos as a millionaire playboy (mainly for the sake of getting girls). For years, however, he kept getting robbed all the time, so he hired a mad scientist to build him an army of robots to patrol his kingdom, as well as protect his riches from anyone daring enough to loot 'em. His three loyal robots, called the Rich Bombers, are known as Bling Bomber, Heavy Bomber, and Fashion Bomber. Here's what I know so far: Bling Bomber was modeled after the king himself, Heavy Bomber was based on that 'Heavy Weapons' guy from _Team Fortress 2_, complete with a thick Russian accent...and finally, Fashion Bomber was simply King Billy's spoof of an everyday female supermodel. And yes, I willingly broke into their castle so I could get the treasures I wanted for my very own winter castle. There, I explained everything! Happy now?"

"Yeah, we are now," I said, "but we're still keeping an eye on you for your own good, and ours as well."

"Whatever..."

* * *

Meanwhile, aboard the Death Falcon above Earth's atmosphere, Purple Basilisk's henchmen came in with pleasant news, hoping it just might change the outcome of World War III in their boss's favor.

"Sir, I know we probably should have told you this earlier, but my group had been secretly working on our own assignment throughout the past week. We came across some distant world called Video Game Dream, and even found something interesting in its underworld region, the so-called Video Game Nightmare."

"What are you blabbering about?" questioned Purple Basilisk.

"They say Video Game Dream is a kingdom-like world where a benevolent king judges a video game's worthiness before it's ever released to his people for a down-time entertainment. But if it was bad, then it's banished instead to Video Game Nightmare. We found some kind of prison cartridge and took it back here for some research. It turned out this cartridge houses what used to be known as Crasher and Blaster, said to have been killed by Wario, and later decimated from existence by a small group of kids. I know this may sound like pure blasphemy, but they're no slouches even in a pinch."

"Hmm...I think I've heard a bit about Crasher and Blaster, mainly the part about them posing as space pirates when in reality, they're the last pieces of what was known as Zeromus. But unless this has something to do with the fact that we lost _three_ Dastardly Bombers in just two days, I don't see the point in using them as the next phase of our plan!"

Regardless of such, Purple Basilisk reluctantly decided to take the request to Red Falcon, Sniper Bomber, and Axe Bomber.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The battle at the Pacific Ocean may be over now, but Tokyo remains frozen at Plasma Bomber's hands. With the ruse exposed, he'll be going all out to make certain nobody lives to tell the story, but not if our heroes have anything to say about it - obviously.


	12. The frozen Japan

Sorry for being a tad late on this. I've been a bit busy finishing _Mario & Luigi: Dream Team_ on the 3DS almost every night, which I recently did last weekend. That, and I kinda wanted to wait until after the staff members of this site finished relocating their servers, since I didn't want to risk losing my unsaved work here. I'm certain they've finished up by now, as far as I've read on the home page.

Anyway, with the truth of the suddenly-revived Imperial Japanese Army exposed and Trigger Bomber dead, it's only a matter of stopping Plasma Bomber's reign over Japan at its source: PlasmaBase.

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 11: The frozen Japan

"Let me get this straight, Basilisk," said Red Falcon. "You're certain those two over there will avenge our fallen comrades, including the fact that one of your own Chaotic Bombers had just fallen in battle at the Pacific Ocean...am I correct?"

Purple Basilisk gasped in surprise. "Wait, what?! Who died?"

"One of our survivors just told us what happened," said Sniper Bomber. "You better have a good explanation for this."

"It wasn't my fault, I swear! I didn't seriously expect them to-"

"Recall their knowledge of Earth's history?" interrupted Sniper Bomber. "Not to mention the outcome of World War II, and the year the Empire of Japan dissolved for good because of the Constitution of Japan? Or haven't you done your research while you were supposedly dead long ago? How utterly pathetic. The Contras know what's really gone is gone, as far as historical facts go."

Red Falcon added, "And by dumb luck on our part, they were able to quickly deduce Metamorph Bomber's M.O. They know our game, just like we know theirs. Why do you think they _surprisingly_ turned down my offer to share the Crimson Stone with them last month? Holy and darkness are weak against each other, and yet they knew of its deadly curse ahead of time even when I personally lured them into a false sense of security."

Purple Basilisk nodded nervously. "Which is why I had my men scout around space for whatever resources they could find, and voila! The infamous Crasher and Blaster, whose consciousnesses are now implanted into these artificial, vile-looking duplicates of Bill Rizer and Lance Bean."

"Hmm..." wondered Axe Bomber. "Not a bad idea. So anyways...uh, are they awake?"

"We want Wario and his friends' heads on a plate!" boomed Crasher and Blaster simultaneously.

Axe Bomber flinched momentarily. "Whoa! Guess that's a yes..."

* * *

[Stage BGM: Snowpeak Ruins (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)]

_Mission 4B: PlasmaBase  
Originally one of the office towers, Plasma Bomber took it over and converted it into his very own "PlasmaBase."  
There must be some sort of alien machinery capable of altering the weather, but we've yet to confirm it.  
Meanwhile, the rest of Delta Force are taking on the remnants of Plasma Bomber's masquerading crew.  
August 31, 20XX  
5:32 AM_

Back down on Earth, we of the Delta Blue team arrived in Tokyo, the confirmed source of the sudden ice age. Although Blaze Bomber is weak against the cold, he volunteered to face his worst fear by providing us covering fire from one of our remaining helicopters - with Cute Pink, 9-Volt, Phoebe, 5-Volt, and Mona as his helpers. Bill and Lance got on board the other helicopter to cover us as well, thus putting me and Ami in charge of keeping an eye on Arctic Bomber. All in all, it was up to me, Ami, Arctic Bomber, Cheerful White, and Cool Black to free Japan and its citizens.

"That green-clad scumbag's hideout must be over there!" said Arctic Bomber. "I can see the two statues of himself by the front door!"

Ami nodded in agreement. "Right on track. It must be PlasmaBase!" As we got closer, the wall-mounted cannons opened fire. "_Itai!_ Get to cover!"

Immediately, our two helicopters flew by. Blaze Bomber called out, _Hang on, fellas! Help is on the way! We're gonna open the road to Plasma Bomber's lair, so you might want to stand back._

_Phoebe, Pink,_ came 9-Volt's voice, _let's give those cannons a taste of Nintendo Power!_

They blew up the cannons with Pink's cartoon bombs, whereas Bill and Lance destroyed the Plasma Bomber statues up front from the other chopper. Then Bill said, _The path's open! We'll make sure Plasma doesn't get away if he loses! And Arctic, remember what we're here for, alright?_

"You don't have to tell me twice," replied Arctic Bomber, "though I think we could have used Ami's Thunder Bombs..."

_No time for second thoughts,_ said Lance. _You and the others have a Dastardly Bomber to hunt down._

After hanging up our communicators, we stepped inside PlasmaBase. It reminded me and Ami of the ice dungeons in some of _The Legend of Zelda_ games, especially Snowpeak Ruins from _Twilight Princess_. Though we remained concerned about our missing friends, including Wario, Kat, and Ana, we had no time to lament, since we had a Dastardly Bomber to stop and a fraud to expose. Ice was in Arctic Bomber's element, so she had no problem getting around within a snow-and-ice-covered building.

"Plasma Bomber's there, and I wouldn't be surprised if Siren and Mosquito are present as well," said Arctic Bomber. "I can feel 'em in my veins..."

Suddenly, we heard familiar voices coming from the hallway. "Hey! Hey, guys! Over here!" We could tell the voices belonged to Kat and Ana.

"Oh no, we're not falling for that again!" shouted Arctic Bomber.

"What're you talking about? We're Kat and Ana! We just escaped ourselves and-"

"Hold that thought." The Mistress of the Cold snatched one of the gadgets that Penny Crygor gave us before we left for Japan. It resembled a mirror, only it had the ability to reveal a person's true form. "I knew it. You're Siren Bomber and Mosquito Bomber in disguise!"

With a gasp from both impostors, they were forced to reveal themselves as the two female Chaotic Bombers that jumped us back in France. "Fool you once, shame on us, even when I shared my power with Mosquito," muttered Siren Bomber. "Seems you're not as stupid as you look after all, Arctic."

Though we knew for certain that mosquitoes couldn't tolerate the cold, wintry weather in reality, we were surprised to see Mosquito Bomber _not_ feeling any different at all. It probably had to be something she acquired for protection against the cold, but that was the least of our concern now. However, instead of fighting us, they just ran off to a distant elevator, prompting us to give chase. Henceforth, we fought our way across the tower, while splitting up into groups to cover more ground. Eventually, we reached the elevator where Siren and Mosquito escaped to. As we rode to the top, we could see outside of the building by the glass-covered window. The enemy fighters attempted to destroy the elevator to kill us, but Blaze Bomber, Bill, and Lance gunned them down to save us - all while minimizing the potential damage to Tokyo. When we finally reached the top floor (which read "30"), we got off and spotted the fake Tojo afterwards.

* * *

"We've got you cornered!" I shouted.

"What happened to you?" questioned Ami.

"Tojo" huffed in response. "Like I told you, times change!" Immediately, Arctic Bomber showed him our enchanted mirror, and Ami blasted him with her Fire Bombs, revealing him as the purple-bodied Metamorph Bomber in disguise.

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Environmental Shock (Metroid Fusion)]

"Heh...and it took you this long to find me out, didn't it? Well lucky you, and you didn't have to bring Blaze Bomber in to save you. Did he wimp out?"

"Never!" Ami shouted. "He helped provide covering fire for us!"

"Then I guess my work here is done. You uncovered my ruse, so let me reward you with the honor of being beaten to a pulp by Plasma Bomber and the two Chaotic Bombers! It'd be wrong of me to rob them of that pleasure anyway, so farewell to thee!"

"He's getting away! We can't let him..." Just as I almost finished my sentence, Metamorph Bomber teleported out of sight before we could even damage him. "...escape."

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Tower of Zot (Final Fantasy II/IV)]

With Metamorph Bomber exposed, we were inevitably forced into an upcoming fight against Plasma, Siren, and Mosquito. This time, neither one planned on taking any prisoners, although they're holding Dribble, Spitz, Giant Gold, Bookworm Green, and Kid Blue captive. Plasma began, "Welcome, Aaron and Ami of the Four Contras! And most of all, a big hello to my dear friends, Shiro and Kuro!"

Cool Black shouted, "Shut it! You disgust us!"

"Where are the rest of the WarioWare crew, along with Kat, Ana, and the others?" questioned Cheerful White.

"Bah! I'd forget it if I were you! Think you'll win against the mighty Emperor of Japan, who happens to be me: Plasma Bomber? Think again!"

Arctic snapped, "It's creeps like you who give Japan a bad name! Your evil has claimed the life of MY castle and MY private bowling alley...no longer!"

Siren Bomber scoffed. "Oh, puh-lease! Your dumb castle was a bore, anyway!"

"You better gimme back my Glacier Ball, or I'll go ballistic on you!"

"Never!" boomed Plasma Bomber. "I'm afraid you'll all have to die since you killed Magnet, Pretty, and Golem. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: The Dispossessed Eidolons (Final Fantasy IV: The After Years)]

Siren and Mosquito began attacking by changing into their respective, monstrous forms with two Smash Balls. Plasma Bomber, on the other hand, used a dark Smash Ball of his own to transform into a giant bird-like form he called: Plasma Roc. The US soldiers that survived to this fight (thanks to our efforts) attempted to destroy the evil Bombers with their frag grenades, only to no avail. Apparently, after all the time we fought the fake Japanese soldiers, the US soldiers forgot that the evil Bombermen were reinforced with Super-Titanium alloy. Meanwhile, Siren (in her "Scylla" form) breathed fire, ice, and lightning from her snake-like heads, simultaneously killing the soldiers with ease. Then Plasma Bomber followed up by slamming the others death with his talons. I quickly got in the act of helping Ami throw some Fire Bombs and Ice Bombs at Siren, Mosquito, and Plasma to inflict damage. Then the mythical beast retaliated by lunging her heads in an attempt to eat us alive, which we carefully avoided so as to not end up like our fellow soldiers did.

Afterwards, she grabbed Arctic Bomber's Glacier Ball and gulped it down to mock her. "HEY!" Arctic yelled. "That's MY bowling ball you just swallowed! Okay, that tears it! Now I'm really pissed!"

Meanwhile, Mosquito Bomber was holding her ground, as if she never felt pain from any attacks thrown at her at all. Once again, we theorized that it had something to do with her sudden protection against the cold. In fact, Cheerful White got out a pair of X-Ray goggles (also given to us by Penny) and looked around, noticing a backpack-like device strapped to Mosquito's back. Gulping down a few sips of Star Drink, he threw a bomb at her back while Cool Black drew her attention to him. As it turned out, the device powered a barrier meant to protect her from both damage and the cold weather, immediately causing her to stop what she was doing.

"Ah...ahhh...AH-CHOO!" The Insectoid Queen sniffled. "Aw, crap! How'd you know I was wearing the special backpack Plasma Bomber gave me so I wouldn't be weakened by the cold?...Ahhh...AH-CHOO!"

"I've fought worse," said White. "Not even cloaked devices can escape Penny Crygor's brilliance."

With Mosquito Bomber rendered powerless due to her weakness, White and Black finished her off with little to no resistance from her bug minions. As for Siren Bomber, we struggled hard to avoid getting eaten alive, but Arctic Bomber inflicted more damage herself than Ami and I did. She even wasted no time gulping down yet another whole can of Star Drink, once again taking advantage of her impure personality to belch out yet another unnatural stream of fire, eventually killing Siren Bomber for good. When the smoke cleared, the Glacier Ball was seen in plain sight, undamaged - and not a single scratch on it, just as Arctic hoped.

"YES!" she cheered. "Yes yes yes yes YEEESSS! I finally got my bowling ball back!"

Plasma Bomber, having depended on Siren Bomber and Mosquito Bomber to back him up, was left to fend for himself. He decided that playtime was over, and threw down some napalm eggs toward us. We got out of the blast range despite suffering some damage from his stray metallic feathers, and returned fire. I was grateful to have picked up the Flamethrower for my Contra Rifle along the way to the top of PlasmaBase, whilst keeping myself from losing it by switching to the default machine gun in its empty slot until the right time. As I used the Flamethrower to the best of my abilities, Plasma was about to hurl more napalm eggs, which I detonated with a well-tied aim, setting him ablaze.

"AAARRRRGGHH!" screamed Plasma Bomber.

"Ha ha ha HA!" taunted Arctic Bomber. "Mess with this Bowling Queen, and Aaron BURNS you alive!"

[End BGM]

The Dastardly Bomber fell to the floor and began exploding. Just as he finally detonated in a blinding explosion, his green spirit flew out of his dead body. The explosion took out the controls to the cages that held Dribble, Spitz, Giant Gold, Bookworm Green, and Kid Blue prisoner. While we were happy to see our pals again, Arctic Bomber spotted the source of the endless winter: a weather-altering machine.

"The Star Drink may not help me since I'm a bad girl, but at least it can double as acid on evil artifacts and not just Red Falcon's soldiers..." She shook her Star Drink can as hard as possible and unleashed a hard spray on the machine, eventually dissolving and destroying it. "YEAH! Japan is free! The snow and ice are melting!"

"Yeah," said Dribble, "but why Arctic Bomber? I thought she was..."

"It's a long story," said Cheerful White.

When we left the now-defunct PlasmaBase, the people of Tokyo were grateful for our efforts in saving their country's reputation, and exposing Plasma Bomber's well-planned ruse. But hey, it was all thanks to our knowledge of World War II, that we were able to deduce the aliens' disguises. After all, as the old saying goes: those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. With only Brain Bomber left, we decided to rest up for a little while before taking off. All that was left for us to explore - according to Dribble and Spitz - were China, and eventually, New Zealand...

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

For once, Arctic Bomber contributed the most to our heroes' success in dethroning Plasma Bomber and exposing his plot to smear the name of post-WWII Japan. Now only Brain Bomber remains alive...


	13. Trouble in China

Little did our heroes know Purple Basilisk's henchmen revived the notorious Crasher and Blaster by implanting their essences into the artificial bodies provided for them...

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Trouble in China

During a few hours of break time in Tokyo, we met up with a mysterious young ninja who appeared to be in her late teens. Though Ami and I recognize her from both _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Kingdom Hearts_ as Yuffie Kisaragi, we kept it to ourselves to avoid any sudden confusions. She had a short black hair and wore a a metal headband with two green tassels. Her outfit consisted of a green sleeveless turtleneck and a pair of tan shorts, orange fingerless gloves, and orange shoes. Upon getting acquainted, we learned that she used to live in a distant village of Wutai before it was destroyed five years ago during the Alien Wars, and had since moved to Tokyo. When Plasma Bomber took over, she tried to stop him but was no match for both his powers and the Super Titanium alloy on his body. He had Siren Bomber and Mosquito Bomber imprison her so she wouldn't warn anyone of his plot to build a personal kingdom of his own out of Japan. Now that we freed Japan of the icy nightmare, Yuffie decided to return the favor by joining us in our quest to overthrow the Red Falcon Empire once and for all, intent on paying Red Falcon, Sniper Bomber, and Axe Bomber back for destroying Wutai five years ago.

_Mission 5: The Forbidden City of Beijing, China  
We don't have the exact details as to where Brain Bomber is hiding, but it's possible he might be in Beijing, China.  
Word on the street, though, is that it's been taken over by the evil Bombermen we have yet to obliterate.  
August 31, 20XX  
11:22 AM_

"Yuffie, huh?" asked 9-Volt. "I've heard all about you from a video game I once tried out! What was it called again, Mona? _Kingdom Hearts_?"

"Yup," said Mona.

"Nice to meet you, 9-Volt!" Yuffie flashed him a friendly wink. "I heard you have a couple of guardian angels helping to keep you safe while you're enjoying life."

9-Volt blushed. "Yeah, that's true. You look very nice!"

"Aww, thanks! You're so sweet, you know that?"

"9-Volt's mom raised him right, and so did Mona back when she was babysitting him," explained Phoebe. "Nowadays, he looks up to Mona as his big sister."

"That's good to hear," said Yuffie. "Well, just so you two know, I'll be very helpful since I know the ways of ninjutsu, in addition to some useful White and Black magic spells powered by whatever Materia I find."

"What's a Materia?" asked 9-Volt.

"They're special orbs that each grant a different magic spell, like Cure, Fire, Thunder, or even Blizzard. Don't get me wrong, though; let's just say I like collecting them."

"I don't think you're a thief."

Yuffie smirked playfully. "You better not, or I'll tickle you. And by the way, what's _she_ doing here?" She pointed toward Arctic Bomber, who purposefully took out our enchanted mirror with suspicion only to see that she's not a fake at all. Bill, of course, snapped her out of her paranoia by smacking her in the face.

"Oh, that's Arctic Bomber," answered Phoebe. "She used to be a bad Bomber-girl, but not anymore ever since we taught her a lesson she'll never forget."

"She's no longer part of the Hate Bombers nor the Red Falcon Empire," added Mona. "But she's not free just because she's helping us. She's on probation."

"Serves her right for attempting all this time to hurt you guys," said Yuffie. "I've heard bad talk about her within the past five years."

* * *

As we returned to our helicopters to get her acquainted with all our friends, Yuffie told us what she overheard about a hostile takeover in China, apparently led by Brain Bomber; henceforth, we took off for the country first. During our flight, we received a call from the two robot pilots guiding us. _Deltas Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow, this is Big-Eye reporting. We've detected enemy presence from above. Be advised, they are- _But before Air-Droid 612 could finish, explosions were heard over the speaker.

_Mayday! Mayday!_ Air-Droid 613 warned. _We're under attack by an enemy space fighter! You have to save yourselves... _The communication was cut off abruptly.

Mad Dog's voice called out to us next, _Big-Eye, do you copy?_

_Dammit!_ came Scorpion's voice. _They must've been shot down and destroyed!_

Suddenly, we received another call, only now it's from a pair of unknown voices. _Surprised to hear from us? You've all meddled our plans for the last time!_

_This is where your flight crashes into a screeching halt! And don't even think that because we were dead long ago we've forgotten about the final moment your fat friend, Wario, spoiled our takeover by killing us!_

"I know these voices..." whispered 9-Volt.

"Crasher and Blaster!" added Phoebe. "But how?"

[Alert BGM: Theme of Nebula (Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS)]

In just seconds, Crasher and Blaster flew towards us, and attacked our helicopters without mercy or remorse. We tried hard to fight back, but we were no match for their weaponry. The helicopters of Deltas Green and Yellow were blown to bits within seconds, killing the US soldiers aboard. Only we of Deltas Blue and Red remained, despite getting shot down. When we got out of the wreckage, we found ourselves at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The one silver lining, on the other hand, was that the CrygorCopter wasn't damaged badly...but that didn't stop the fact that we were surrounded by the RF soldiers, led by Warlock Bomber and Boxer Bomber...

"Well, well...look who decided to drop in to see me, Boxer Bomber: the Punching Ring King of the Chaotic Bombers!"

"And of course you vermin wouldn't forget about me either, would you?" taunted Warlock Bomber. "I see you managed to free that nosy ninja after she threatened to overthrow Plasma Bomber within the last few weeks."

"Hey!" shouted Yuffie. "I just so happen to be the Great Ninja Yuffie, you egotistical jerk! Now where's your head honcho, Brain Bomber?"

Just then, Purple Basilisk showed up in a personal craft. "Oh, you thought he was gonna be somewhere around here when you supposedly overheard of his whereabouts? Well, we knew something like that would happen, so in short...we lied! By the way, I recently heard such interesting details about your two young friends: 9-Volt and Phoebe, was it? At the time last month, I only knew little about them, but ever since I revived Crasher and Blaster by transferring their essences from a prison cartridge into their new bodies, I now know 9-Volt's little family history...let's see, what was it? Ohhh, yes. The fact that he's apparently descended from some green-haired summoner named Rydia."

9-Volt gasped. "No! If this gets out to the whole world, I'm a goner!"

"Leave my son alone, Purple Basilisk!" shouted 5-Volt.

"You tell him, ma'am!" Then Yuffie stared daggers at the purple-skinned lieutenant. "I'd rather die before letting you and your merry men near 9-Volt, so back off from his family or else!"

Purple Basilisk laughed heartily. "You hide behind a bunch of women, don't you, 9-Volt? HA HA HA! That's just too freakin' rich! I bet you're just as cowardly as your dad was before Lord Red Falcon's men killed him!"

"Don't you dare call our best pal a coward!" shouted Cute Pink. "He's shown a lot of courage even with little to no fighting skills for a kid his age!"

5-Volt nodded sternly, yet in agreement. "That goes double for my husband!"

"And yet you yourself rely on both your Chaotic Bombers and the Five Dastardly Bombers to wipe us out," added Cheerful White, "whilst staying out of the action most of the time!"

"As much as I hate to admit it," said Arctic Bomber, "9-Volt eventually got the courage to stand tall when his close friends helped him defeat me once and for all."

Crasher interrupted, "Enough talk! Today, we're gonna show you what happens when goody-goody children like 9-Volt and Phoebe spoil our plans, let alone wipe us off the face of Video Game Dream!"

"You see," said Blaster, "we barely made a narrow escape just as Bahamut obliterated our true forms. Had we not transferred our essences into the prison cartridge, we would've been dead by now. Thanks to the Red Falcon Empire, we're back in power with one goal and one goal only: the death of these two brats, then Wario!"

"You heartless bastards!" yelled Mad Dog. "Why go so far as to kill the innocent kids just to stop us?!"

Warlock Bomber cackled deviously. "What better way to crush your measly hope, than by killing the Earth children? In order for Lord Red Falcon to be fully revitalized once more, he requires whatever negativity is occurring within range!"

Boxer Bomber added, "Destruction, sorrow, despair, you name it, foos!"

Crasher and Blaster wasted no time grabbing 9-Volt and Phoebe with their ship's claws. Then Crasher announced, "Behold! The death of the one Earth child and his girlfriend who humiliated our pride deep within Video Game Nightmare!"

"Stop!" cried 9-Volt. "Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Blaster taunted remorselessly, "Aww...the little baby misses his daddy! Don't worry, we've just heard he's waiting patiently for you in hell!"

"STOP IT! He's in heaven! You're lying!"

Crasher grinned evilly. "It matters little. You're just about to find out why we hate losing to children like you! SAY GOODBYE!"

[End BGM]  
[Fight BGM: A Spirit of Bushi (Contra: Hard Corps)]

With absolutely no remorse on his black-hearted mind, Crasher pressed a button, making electricity surge throughout the claws to hurt 9-Volt and Phoebe. The innocent children screamed at the top of their lungs in pain, while we expressed mixed feelings of fear and anger. To add insult to injury, Red Falcon telepathically appeared in the form of a large, astral projection of himself. _Yes...YEESSS!_

"Red Falcon!" I shouted.

"You monster!" added Ami.

_Meh, I get that a lot. But you're too late! Watch in despair as your hopes of defeating us are crushed by the death of your little friends! I feel the power of destruction! The greatness of sorrow! And...your cries of despair!_

Sniper Bomber's voice followed suit as his astral image appeared next. _The end of WarioWare Inc. and the Four Contras has come!_

Then came Axe Bomber's. _You can never kill us! You have anger! You have vengeance! That's likely why you had the power to stop us! We wanted you to come after us from the beginning!_

"NO!" yelled Bill. "Not on our home planet! Leave 9-Volt alone!"

Lance growled. "You alien mother-truckers will pay for this!"

Yuffie gripped her large, star-shaped shuriken (known as the Conformer) tightly. "In fact, you've just made violently-protective female bodyguards out of us!" She got out a can of Star Drink she borrowed, taking a few sips so as to not overdose by accident.

"Me, Yuffie, and Ami!" shouted Cute Pink.

Struggling with all our might, we managed to break free of captivity and kill every last alien soldier to our last breath. We even fought hard against Boxer Bomber and Warlock Bomber, all while 9-Volt's guardian angels aimed to destroy Crasher and Blaster's death machine. Throughout the entire fight, the evil doppelgangers fired ballistic missiles all over the battlefield, not caring whom they obliterated as long as they had the opportunity to kill 9-Volt and Phoebe.

"That's right, you meddlesome Contras!" boasted Purple Basilisk. "Give in to your rage and your thirst for vengeance! Commence overkill on my followers, and take their places as if Lord Red Falcon had already bestowed upon you the power of the Crimson Stone!"

Before he could finish, Yuffie sliced Crasher and Blaster's death machine's claws off with her Greased Lightning attack, stopping the shocking pain on 9-Volt and Phoebe. 18-Volt, Mona, and Cute Pink gingerly caught 9-Volt afterwards, while Ami, Cheerful White, and Cool Black did the same for Phoebe.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Crasher. "Impossible!"

Yuffie glared at the evil doppelgangers. "Never underestimate the power of the Star Drink! And NEVER EVER HURT POOR 9-VOLT AGAIN!"

Blaster gasped. "You're supposed to be expressing your anger as well!"

"I am, in a _positive_ way!" She borrowed Blaze Bomber's Smash Ball and busted it, charging up the weapon she was wielding all along: the Conformer. Apparently, Blaze Bomber told her about how its power reflects its user's heart. Then she echoed aloud: "ALL CREATION!"

We all stopped what we were doing and saw Yuffie's Final Smash - which was her actual Level-4 Limit Break from _Final Fantasy VII_! Instantly, out came a long beam that blasted Crasher and Blaster's ship, before splitting into energy bursts that hit the battlefield to clear away all of the enemies. Warlock and Boxer were damaged, and forced to teleport out of China. As for the evil doppelgangers themselves, their ship was totaled, sending them careening back into outer space towards the Death Falcon with burn wounds all over their artificial bodies. Though Red Falcon was eventually forced to rely on Brain Bomber and his lackeys to kill us, he wasn't worried since he completed a next step in his revival.

_You just don't seem to understand why you fight! This may come as a surprise to you, but we wanted you to come and kill us all along from day one! Even without the Crimson Stone, its essence lives on! The more hatred you unleash, the more power I get for my true resurrection! It's just a matter of time, but...I wouldn't want to spoil the rest of the surprise. If you can get past Brain Bomber and the rest of Purple Basilisk's Chaotic Bombers, I just might let you in on the whole truth - but that's if you also get to the center of the Death Falcon alive in outer space..._

"We're not like you!" I shouted.

"Yeah, what Aaron said!" exclaimed Ami.

Sniper Bomber cackled in response. _Deny your thirst for vengeance all you want, __but it won't do you much good in the end! Enjoy your lost battle against your own temptations to kill!_

[End BGM]

* * *

[Boss BGM: Format X (Contra: Hard Corps)]

With that said, Red Falcon, Sniper Bomber, and Axe Bomber's astral projections vanished, while Purple Basilisk activated the auto-repair feature on his damaged craft. Then he transformed it into an attack mech somewhat recognizable from _Contra: Hard Corps_, bearing the appearance of a chrome gray, pear-shaped pod with spikes protruding from its two retractable arms. "While I still dream of running my own business, I'm not above following Lord Red Falcon's orders. You may think of the Forbidden City as a cemetery for your burial! So come on, Contras! What are you waiting for? This is your chance to blow me away again, _right?_"

"Mad Dog, Scorpion, get everyone to safety." ordered Blaze Bomber. "We'll stop Purple Basilisk before he does anymore damage to Beijing, let alone the Forbidden City."

"Consider it done, Blaze!" acknowledged Mad Dog. "Be careful, and don't let Red Falcon's words rattle you."

The African-American sergeant led everyone away from the Forbidden City, freeing Kaz, Tekirai, Jeng Kang, Domo, 18-Volt, Dr. Crygor, and Orbulon along the way. When the coast was clear, Blaze Bomber prompted Arctic Bomber to follow him alongside me, Ami, Bill, and Lance as we pursued Purple Basilisk's mech into an underground tunnel. Then it walked slowly around us on the ceiling before stopping to shoot a rapid-fire laser. We attacked it simultaneously, which only got it to spin around rapidly to the point in which dodging the laser shots was virtually impossible. This resulted in our minor injuries, but it didn't stop us from attacking some more until the mech "exploded" into a different color as orange.

"That's right, Contras!" boasted Purple Basilisk. "Keep it coming! My Longhand Bot has plenty of tricks in store just for you!"

The crazed lieutenant's mech extended one of its clawed arms and dragged itself across the ground, eventually leading us out of the tunnel and back on the surface of the Forbidden City, at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Then it sprouted helicopter blades atop itself in hopes of dicing us to death, swinging back and forth as it chased us across the Gate of Supreme Harmony whilst firing a barrage of missiles. We barely avoided getting hurt again, and made it back to the entrance at the Meridian Gate as the mech retracted its helicopter blades. Afterwards, it charged up for a spin dash to knock us over, though we were able to get up and return fire.

"It won't be that easy this time, I won't lie," said Purple Basilisk. "So give up now lest you choose to die!"

Despite his odd attempt at making a threat in the form of a rhyme, Purple Basilisk fired a reflective laser beam from his Longhand Bot to blast us some more. Blaze Bomber got up to thrust himself across the Meridian Gate, inflicting damage on the mech in the process. Then Arctic Bomber followed up with her Bowling Bombs, until the mech "exploded" into an angry red color. It unleashed another spin dash across the Forbidden City, just barely knocking us over again. Still standing tall, we ran after Purple Basilisk while we still had stamina left to keep fighting. Blaze Bomber quickly tossed me, Bill, and Lance some power-ups to back us up. I grabbed the Homing Missiles for my Contra Rifle, while Bill and Lance acquired the Crash Missiles and Spread Gun for their M16 machine guns. Meanwhile, Purple Basilisk's mech hovered with its helicopter blades once more whilst firing a barrage of homing missiles, which I easily countered with my own.

A few minutes later, the mech stopped at the Gate of Divine Might on the far side of the Forbidden City, opposite of where the Meridian Gate was located. Then it spanned its arms on both the floor and ceiling, locking them in place so when we attack, it'd make like a trampoline in hopes of slamming itself into us for more damage. "Dodge this!" blurted Purple Basilisk, charging up his mech for a continuous lightning beam. He unleashed the attack, spinning around in a 360-degree angle. We were hurt again, this time exhausted from all the running around, but still able enough to get around his attack pattern and dodge for our lives. Finally, we nailed a victory with a finishing blow which destroyed the Longhand Bot in the end. Purple Basilisk immediately ejected from the mech just before it exploded, hovering about with his jetpack.

"Now THAT was one helluva fight! I mean, sure, you trashed another of my brilliant mechs, but I'm not too worried...for one day, you'll all succumb to your own burning hatred!" With that said, he flew off to fight another day just as we eventually passed out from all the injuries we've endured.

[End BGM]

* * *

Several hours later, we had awakened at Crygor Labs in Diamond City, having been injured by Red Falcon's alien lackeys before Yuffie unleashed her Final Smash on Crasher and Blaster. 9-Volt and Phoebe were hurt, but not beyond the White Magic's healing capabilities. On the other hand, we were relieved to see Kaz, Tekirai, Jeng Kang, Domo, 18-Volt, Dr. Crygor, and Orbulon safe alongside many other close friends we've rescued. That left only Wario, Jimmy Thang, Kat, and Ana to save from the Five Dastardly Bombers.

9-Volt, having woken up at last, muttered, "Wh-what...Y-Yuffie?"

The teen ninja hushed him soothingly, hugging him affectionately. "Shhh...it's okay, sweetie. Yuffie's here. You're safe now..."

[Interlude BGM: Environmental Tension (Metroid Fusion)]

Although 9-Volt was indeed safe with Mona, Cute Pink, and Yuffie at his side, their peaceful time wouldn't last very long since Red Falcon's alien henchmen were still at large. We were all weakened from the sudden ambush back in China, but not seriously injured. However, Mad Dog and Scorpion of Delta Force lost more of their men during the attack, and most of our helicopters destroyed. On the other hand, most of us were temporarily out of action, possibly until after we've blown Brain Bomber out of existence. As soon as we were done freeing Earth, we'd need to fly all the way to the Death Falcon in space, in order to destroy the Red Falcon Empire once and for all. Therefore, Penny and Blaze Bomber decided to modify the CrygorCopter for space travel. Of course, this was going to take between 1 and 2 days, as they're still working on the Contra Cruiser's modifications, so the two remaining helicopters of Delta Force were all we've got to perform one last rescue mission.

"The one silver lining is that our friends are safe," said Mad Dog. "Though we lost half our men, Scorpion and I will continue following you to the bitter end - and more importantly, control our anger while we're at it."

"How are you holding up, Yuffie?" asked Scorpion.

"I'm okay," replied Yuffie. "I think I can still fight alongside you guys, but..."

"Hey, don't worry about me and 9-Volt..." said Phoebe.

"Yeah," added 9-Volt, flashing Yuffie a warm smile. "My mom'll look after us until it's over...and thanks again for protecting me."

"No problem. That's why I'm your guardian angel." She patted his head soothingly. "We'll free Kat and Ana before you know it. I promise."

Arctic Bomber, Mona, Bill, Lance, Ami, and I were still able to stand tall, whereas Cheerful White and Cool Black volunteered to help Cute Pink and the others guard Crygor Labs with their lives. In short, it was all up to us, along with the remnants of Mad Dog and Scorpion's group, to take out the evil Brain Bomber at his secret base, which Dr. Crygor revealed to be in the Galuga Archipelago, off the coast of New Zealand. And that trip would bring back memories of the times Ami and I had played _Contra 4_ together on our Nintendo DS's.

Yuffie knew it would be very risky, but went along with us after having promised 9-Volt she'd help rescue Kat and Ana while we'd save Wario, Jimmy, and the sensei of Diamond Dojo. This was her chance to prove herself as a reliable ally and a caring friend...one she would gladly undertake, or die trying.

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The Red Falcon Empire might have gotten what they intended to do despite their comeuppance, but thanks to Yuffie's efforts, 9-Volt and Phoebe are safe and sound. Now it's onto the Galuga Archipelago, then a one-way ticket to the Death Falcon in outer space...


	14. Welcome back to the Jungle

A little side-note before I begin: I originally had Yuffie sit out this mission when I first wrote this fanfic to post on DeviantART back in Spring 2012, mainly because I had Sakura Kinomoto (from CLAMP's _Cardcaptors_) around. However, since I don't use her anymore, I'm having Yuffie take her place for the remainder of this fic and my revamped/retooled DCC series in general. Personally, I like Yuffie as a character, even though she's from _Final Fantasy VII_ and the _Kingdom Hearts_ series (the latter which I never got to play back then).

Side-notes aside, let's begin the next chapter as our heroes take the fight to the jungle of the Galuga Archipelago.

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Welcome back to the Jungle

[Interlude BGM: Final Confrontation (The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages)]

_So...they failed to crush all hope for the future of mankind on Earth, eh?_ Red Falcon thought, as he reluctantly worked on Crasher and Blaster's surgery. "Still, I did get what I wanted from the Contras. Threatening their little friends' lives to crush all hope was only the beginning, but if things go exactly as planned, I'll be back in full power even without the Crimson Stone to keep my earthly body intact. In the meantime, many of Aaron and Ami's allies are temporarily out of action, which shouldn't prove too much of a hassle for Brain Bomber..." The alien warmonger continued working around the clock to ensure that Crasher, Blaster, and even their secret weapon are extremely difficult to kill.

"Sooner or later," said Sniper Bomber, "the Death Falcon will be complete. The conversion from a battleship into a moon-like reincarnation of Pandaemonium has been on schedule throughout the entire month as planned."

"Taking advantage of the Contras' desire to fight was the most brilliant scheme we've ever cooked up!" boasted Axe Bomber. "But, we gotta get on with creating our own secret weapon, should they get lucky enough to kill Brain Bomber and come all the way up here!"

"You're absolutely right, Axe. Little do they know the Crimson Stone still lives, albeit not in physical form. Either it consumes them, or we will. I'll admit, we never thought about it five years ago when we took Diamond City, Neo City, and even Tokyo by storm during the Alien Wars."

"I know, right? But now that we got ourselves involved with the Crimson Stone fiasco, though it was Purple Basilisk's doing when he mutinied us like a crazy jackass, the meddlesome Contras will soon be no more! Them and their merry friends, too!"

Laughing evilly in unison, the two Hate Bombers walked away elsewhere, intent on preparing themselves with some new tactics they had yet to unleash against us long ago, not giving a care as to what would become of Purple Basilisk and the Chaotic Bombers at this rate. Should we make it all the way there for real, Sniper and Axe thought, they'd be happy to oblige Red Falcon by finishing the job themselves once and for all.

[End BGM]

* * *

_Mission 6A: Galuga Archipelago  
With only "Delta Blue" standing as part of Delta Force, the Four Contras lead the way to rescue the last of their captured friends. In the meantime, we've officially confirmed Brain Bomber's base of operations: hidden within the Galuga Archipelago, off the coast of New Zealand.  
September 1, 20XX  
9:29 PM_

[Stage BGM: Jungle 1 (Contra 4)]

Meanwhile, down on Earth below the atmosphere, we Four Contras led the way to New Zealand the next evening. We were glad that Ami, Mona, and Cute Pink helped Yuffie save 9-Volt and Phoebe's lives. Though they were hurt from the electrical injury, we were thankful neither one was killed. Ever since, Arctic Bomber had begun pondering over the times she's caused trouble for 9-Volt. She may have been a bully back then, but she never dreamed of going that far. She was pissed now, and swore that she would fight her former masters to the bitter end. In fact, she mentally added Crasher and Blaster to her kill list. Even so, she knew one other reason as to why Bill and Lance were assigned as her watchdogs to begin with: so that she'd prove once and for all never to harm another innocent child again as long as she lived.

"Now I know how 9-Volt felt when I picked on him every so often," murmured Arctic Bomber. "He was nearly killed because of Crasher and Blaster."

I looked at her in response. "Hmph. Now you know why child endangerment is against the law, much less child abuse."

"Thankfully," added Ami, "he's in good hands with Phoebe, Cute Pink, 18-Volt, and his mom at his side. Right, Mona?"

The redhead nodded. "Right. All that's left for us to do is save his best ninja pals: Kat and Ana."

The ex-Hate Bomber cracked her knuckles, her mind filled with revenge. "Not to mention your boyfriend, Wario. Anyway, if I ever see Crasher and Blaster again, I want their heads on a plate! Aaron and Ami, you two fight Red Falcon alongside Bill and Lance, while I deal with Crasher and Blaster personally!"

Bill gave her a stern look. "Arctic, I know you're angry about that near-death pain Crasher and Blaster inflicted on 9-Volt and Phoebe earlier, but we can't let ourselves be consumed by anger and vengeance. I think that's what Red Falcon wanted from us when his intergalactic henchmen almost killed them."

"The one silver lining," said Lance, "is they, along with all our other friends, are safe from further harm. We must fight hard, but most importantly, we mustn't lose our cool during such dire situations."

"Yeah," agreed Yuffie. "So in the meantime, we should be focusing on defeating Brain Bomber and his minions first. Not by anger, but through the power of justice and positive feelings."

Arctic Bomber stood from her seat, holding on tight so she didn't fall over. "In other words, we give 'em hell, Contra-style!"

"That's the spirit, Arctic," I said. "Okay guys, are you all ready? It's now or never."

Ami explained, "While we trek our way throughout the jungle and possibly the waterfall, Mad Dog and Scorpion will pilot two of our remaining helicopters with their men to cover us."

Mona added, "But chances are, we'll have to take out any anti-air cannons we see along the way. Let's do it to it!"

We hopped out of the chopper to do battle Contra-style, while Mad Dog took our place (and putting Scorpion in charge of the chopper he just got off) to provide covering fire and some useful power-ups for my Contra Rifle - along with Bill and Lance's machine guns.

"This brings back memories of _Contra 4_, doesn't it?" wondered Ami.

I nodded with a smug grin. "Yep. Only this time, we're fighting for our lives. By the power of justice and positive feelings, we'll kick the last of Red Falcon's goons out of our planet!"

Without delay, we rushed forth, bellowing "FREAKIN' YEAH!" along the way. Ami and I led the way with our holy weapons' 5-hit barrier systems turned on; Bill and Lance followed suit with their own. We took care to watch out for the ground turrets hidden by the grass, while dodging every bullet coming from the snipers. Then we came to the lake with enemy hovercrafts coming our way. We shot the alien mooks off, and hijacked their hovercrafts to make our way to Brain Bomber's hideout. According to our soldiers that are still alive and well inside our two helicopters, the hideout is straight ahead at the waterfall. Unfortunately, though, the anti-air flak cannons at the top of the waterfall gunned down one of our choppers with Scorpion inside!

[End BGM]

_AAAHH! Mayday! Mayday! We've been hit! We've got to get out!_

"Hang on! I'll try and stop the explosion!" Before Yuffie could even cast Blizzard to put out the fire, the flak cannons blew up the chopper. On the other hand, only few of the US soldiers made it out alive, though Mad Dog felt otherwise.

_Scorpion! SCORPION! Those vile savages killed my best friend! _He dodged the oncoming fire from the anti-air flak cannons, and blew them up with ballistic missiles. _Brain Bomber! Wherever you and your men are cowering...this ain't over! You hear me?! THIS AIN'T OVER!_

"We're going ahead to climb up the waterfall!" said Bill. "Can you back us up?"

_I will do what I can...that evil bastard's days are numbered!_

* * *

[Stage BGM: Waterfall (Contra 4)]

Upon reaching the waterfall, we got off the hovercrafts, and Arctic Bomber blew them up with her Bowling Bombs. She was not going to let Brain Bomber get away with blowing up another of our remaining helicopters. The US soldiers that followed Scorpion's lead swore to avenge him, and followed us to the bitter end. As for Mad Dog, he provided me, Bill, and Lance some useful power-ups for our rifles through the Crygors' teleportation device. I acquired the Ice Breath and Homing Missiles, whereas Bill got the Spread Gun; and Lance picked up the Laser Beam. For right now, I switched to my Homing Missiles, knowing I will need the Ice Breath later. As we continued jumping from platform to platform, we took down the wall-mounted turrets, along with the scuba divers hiding within the waterfall. Knowing what they do in both _Contra_ and _Contra 4_, Ami and I took care to make sure they didn't shoot grenades at us by surprise.

Arctic Bomber waved her hand in our direction. "C'mon, fellas! The evil cowards await us at the top! I see a large elevator just above us!"

Mona nodded. "That should take us to the entrance overhead."

As soon as we jumped onto the elevator, it powered on and took us up. Along the way, Bill killed the alien snipers and grenadiers with his Spread Gun. Within a minute, we reached the top where Brain Bomber waited for us. Unsurprisingly, Warlock Bomber and Boxer Bomber stood alongside him, poised to end our heroic careers in cold blood for real.

[Interrupt BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Black Shudder (Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow)]

"Back for more beatings from the Black Wizard of Destruction, I see," said Warlock Bomber.

"Don't forget me, foos!" added Boxer Bomber. "You thought your ninja friend could blow us to pieces, did ya?"

Brain Bomber walked forth. "I didn't expect you'd come this far. However, we don't have time to deal with you...but..." With a snap from his finger, a large alien monster with scythes for arms came out from behind the base. "Feel free to be killed by Lord Red Falcon's gargantuan minion, the Waterfall Alien!"

Boxer Bomber, on the other hand, grabbed Yuffie, whilst Warlock Bomber confiscated her weapons. "Now step this way, if you will!"

Yuffie screamed, "YEEEEK! Let go of me, you pervert! Guys, help me!"

Warlock Bomber laughed heartily. "Your silly tricks can't save you or your friends now!" Then he left with Boxer and Brain inside the hidden underground base, much to Arctic's anger.

"HEY! That's 9-Volt's bodyguard you're kidnapping, you evil bastards! I'M GONNA KILL YOU ALL!"

Mona held her back by the shoulders. "Save your vengeance, Arctic! That giant monster looks hungry enough to eat us alive!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Bloody Storm (Contra III: The Alien Wars)]

The Waterfall Alien, which Ami and I really recognized from _Contra 4_, roared as he readied his scythe arms. He had a lethal tail on his back, for its sharp end could open and close like a deadly pair of scissors. Before we were ready, the monster smacked us away, taking away the power-ups on Bill and Lance's M16 machine guns, as well as my Homing Missiles (but not my Ice Breath). In the meantime, Mad Dog flew by to assist us.

_Aaron! Ami! Are you and your friends okay? We're here to back you up! _He fired some missiles from his helicopter, while his men followed up with machine gun fire. The Waterfall Alien was hurt, but angry enough to destroy the chopper with a large-sized laser beam from his mouth! _AAAAHH!_

The communication was cut off with Mad Dog killed, leaving Arctic Bomber completely agitated. "NOOOO! Grrr...THAT'S...IT!" She angrily swiped Bill and Lance's machine guns, albeit feeling a bit of pain from their holy power, given her impure heart.

"It's high-time I went...how do you say...Rambo! HEE-YEEEAAAARRRRRGH!"

In her blind rage, the Mistress of the Cold shot around like crazy, not caring where she was aiming at. The Waterfall Alien burned the remnants of Mad Dog and Scorpion's men with purple fireballs from his mouth. Arctic shot the monster in the face, and blew open the gate with her Bowling Bombs in order to go after Brain Bomber. She ran inside like crazy, with Bill and Lance's guns blazing wildly in the hopes of annihilating Mad Dog and Scorpion's killers.

"Arctic, no!" shouted Bill. "Come back!"

"Dammit! She's gone rogue!" cursed Lance.

I tightened the grip on my Contra Rifle. "Ami and I will distract him. Mona, you go with Bill and Lance to find Arctic Bomber. We can't afford to have her actions jeopardize our mission!"

Mona nodded. "I'm on it! But, aren't Bill and Lance's machine guns infused with holy power now?"

"They are," said Ami, "but chances are, she might inadvertently blow up the whole base before we've secured our friends! Aaron and I will be fine; just go! Please!"

"Don't you two go dying on us, alright?"

Ami reassured Mona with a warm smile. "Hey, even at this moment, we Contras still don't plan on dying. We've felt worse."

Bill, Lance, and Mona went inside the base to chase after Arctic Bomber, whereas Ami and I were left to fend for ourselves. She blasted the Waterfall Alien with more of her Fire Bombs, while I shot him up with my default machine gun - and still keeping my Ice Breath in reserve for later. The monster grew angry, and attempted to stab us to death with his sharp tail. He even followed up with his scythe arms, but luckily, our 5-hit barriers protected us from certain death. We dodged as best as we could, with sweat coming out of our heads. Eventually, we managed to beat him, with green blood oozing out of his body...but he wasn't done yet. Of course, we expected that to happen since we've dealt with him before in _Contra 4_. He smashed the elevator platform real hard with his scythe arms, damaging it beyond repair. It began to fall, with us plummeting towards the bottom of the waterfall! The Waterfall Alien then climbed down after us with his scythe arms, ready to fry us with his laser breath and fireballs.

"I hope the Ice Breath can stop him in his tracks!"

Ami nodded in agreement. "Same with my pumped-up Ice Bombs!" In our last-ditch effort, we used our ice weapons to freeze the Waterfall Alien. He screeched as he was frozen solid. "We did it, Aaron...but now we're gonna die!"

"We're not licked yet," I said. "Quickly, your Wind Bombs!"

Ami snapped her fingers in response. "Oh, right!"

As we fell further and further down towards the bottom, Ami quickly got out her Wind Bombs, pumped them up, and threw them downwards. The bursts of wind slowed down our fall until we landed safely on the destroyed elevator platform. Just then, the Waterfall Alien broke free of the ice, but not without losing his scythe arms in the process. In his own last-ditch effort to kill us, he shot out one last laser beam from his mouth. We scrambled and got out of the way just seconds before the beam obliterated the severely-damaged platform beyond all repair.

[End BGM]

Finally, the Waterfall Alien crashed-landed onto the bottom, dead. We ran to a secret entrance to avoid a debris of bones flying out of his dead body and stopped momentarily to catch our breath. Had we been a second late, we would have been crushed to death by the creature's corpse.

[Victory BGM: Stage Clear (Contra 4)]

"Whew..." I paused momentarily to gather my thoughts. "Oh man...that was a close one!"

"I know..." said Ami, "but hey...we made it out alive."

[End BGM]

We were glad to be alright in the end, for once more, we cheated death. However, we needed to keep moving, since there's no telling what became of Arctic Bomber on our part for the moment and no way of contacting anybody else. Thus, our only option was to save ourselves until we could rendezvous with Bill, Lance, and Mona once again.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Galuga Island's exterior is devoid of enemy presence, but its metallic interior has yet to be cleaned out. Can our heroes make it in time before Arctic Bomber gets herself killed?


	15. Just like old times

Just like with the previous chapter, there will be a couple changes since I no longer use Sakura Kinomoto from _Cardcaptors_. Either way, I hope you've been enjoying my story so far, as it's close to the end. Needless to say, reviews are always appreciated!

Anyway, Arctic Bomber has run amok in the hopes of avenging Sergeants Mad Dog and Scorpion's deaths all by herself, completely oblivious to the potential consequences of her own actions. Thus, our heroes must track her down before she gets herself killed...

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 14: Just like old times

[Stage BGM: Himitsu Factory (Metal Slug 3)]

_Mission 6B-1: Brain Bomber's underground base  
It's now down to just the Four Contras and their close friends on our end, now that all of the Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow teams of Delta Force had been killed in action.  
On top of that, over thousands of civilians and soldiers alike perished throughout the whole month.  
Needless to say, whatever Brain Bomber is planning doesn't look good for mankind.  
September 1, 20XX  
10:18 PM_

Meanwhile, at the upper section of Brain Bomber's hidden base, Arctic Bomber was shooting all over the place with Bill and Lance's machine guns - each held with one hand. The alien soldiers could only run away in panic as, apparently, they weren't used to attacking someone who's wielding _two_ assault rifles at once, with relative ease. Due to her lack of experience in firearms, her aim was often abysmal half the time. Eventually, she ran into Warlock Bomber and Boxer Bomber once again.

"I've got you all right where I want you...PIG EYES!"

Warlock Bomber scoffed. "Pig eyes? What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

"Oh, forget it! I'm calling you and your mooks out for killing what was left of the Delta Force guys that worked with us! I just got acquainted with Mad Dog and Scorpion, and you had to ruin everything by killing them!"

"Stubborn girl..." retorted Boxer Bomber. "Don't think you can beat us so easily just because you wield two machine guns at once. Seriously, we've seen you in action; I've seen zombies take a better shot!"

"We'll just see about that! I'll show you a better shot!" Arctic Bomber unleashed a powerful snowstorm, which Warlock Bomber easily countered with Firaga.

"Ha ha ha! Is that supposed to be effective? Stupid girl! You know nothing about Black Magic!" The Black Wizard of Destruction proved his point by following up with Thundaga, causing Arctic to double up in pain.

"OW! OW! OWWW!" As she was wincing in agony, Boxer Bomber pulled a fast one on her with a series of uppercuts, adding more salt to the wound. "OUCH! QUIT IT!"

At that point, Arctic Bomber stopped caring about whatever attacks the Chaotic Bombers were throwing at her. She cast out her snowstorm attack again, only this time, focused on doubling up her power. Though the assailants were temporarily blinded by the icy wind, Warlock Bomber cast Reflect upon himself to counter it; however Boxer Bomber swung his fists around so aimlessly, he did not see his leader when he accidentally pounded him, preventing Reflect from taking effect as the incantation was nearly completed. While they were distracted, Arctic Bomber pulled out the M16 machine guns again, only for their holy power to immobilize her due to her impure nature. In the meantime, Bill and Lance saw their chance and tackled her down, causing her to fire away uncontrollably before hitting the floor. When the icy wind cleared up, Warlock and Boxer noticed the reinforcements and pulled out for now, intent on finishing the job when the time is right. As for Arctic, she was detained while Bill and Lance, aided by Mona, pried the M16 machine guns off her hands.

"We've been looking all over for you, Arctic!" reprimanded Bill. "You could've been killed!"

"So what?! I can take care of myself, thank you very much! Look, your machine guns are holy-powered, so quit worrying about me accidentally hitting our friends!"

Mona gave the ex-Hate Bomber a stern look. "But what if the machine guns you were shooting around with, _aren't_?"

Lance added, "Even if you're a cyborg unlike us, you can't just go charging in blindly like Rambo, expecting to mow people down every single time! I've been there, and so has Bill."

"Pretty ironic, since you strangely but surely resemble the guy who played John Rambo back in his heyday..."

"It doesn't matter if I resemble that guy or not. The point is, there are almost always snipers and randomly tossed grenades going around."

"And even artillery to boot," stated Bill. "I mean, this isn't some video game you're playing; Red Falcon's lackeys mean business!"

"I hate to interrupt," warned Mona, "but I think we'd better give Aaron and Ami a call. I hope they're alright..."

Bill and Lance nodded, and used their communicators to contact us. "Aaron, Ami, this is Bill Rizer. We've just found Arctic Bomber and calmed her down. Are you two okay?"

_Yeah...we just killed the Waterfall Alien...but not before taking a big, unaided dive._

_We're okay now...and we've found the the entrance to the lower section of Brain Bomber's hideout. We'll do what we can to catch up..._

"Uh, you two sure you're okay?" asked Lance. "You sound tired..."

"Just take it slow for now," suggested Bill, "but keep your heads down. We Contras need each other alive and on duty."

* * *

With Arctic Bomber back in tow, Bill, Lance, and Mona led the way throughout the whole base. Only this time, though, they're showing her the reasonable way to fight: it's to stay alive and save the day - and not just mow down on everyone she sees. They blew up the wall-mounted red cores to dismantle the gates (and disable the electrical fences) they came across. Sooner or later, they had reached Brain Bomber's lair, where he was holding Wario, Jimmy, Kat, Ana, and even Diamond Dojo's sensei prisoner. The purple-clad Dastardly Bomber took a moment to applaud the group by clapping his hands slowly.

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Tower of Zot (Final Fantasy II/IV)]

"Welcome! So nice to see you again! You may have repelled Warlock and Boxer, but I've already succeeded in unveiling my greatest plan yet! However, it comes in a good number of steps in order to work. Step 1..." He clapped his hands twice, prompting a mysterious warrior clothed in black garb, to come out of the shadows. "...Your destruction at the hands of the one you identify as little 9-Volt's bodyguard!"

"...Yuffie, of course," concluded Mona. "But why? What have you done with her?"

Brain Bomber chuckled deviously. "Let's just say I merely awakened her true power, but enough about that. Let's match the power of your special machine guns, along with Arctic Bomber's pathetic ice powers, against the new-and-improved Yuffie! Boxer Bomber, feel free to do as you wish, but leave Arctic Bomber to our brand new servant. Warlock Bomber, come with me."

"Understood, Brain Bomber...but know this: I only take orders from my true masters, let alone Purple Basilisk."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. In fact, your creator has something very useful in store for us, but I'd rather not say it in front of _them_. Mustn't spoil our surprise now, do we?"

[End BGM]  
[Fight BGM: Boss Battle (Final Fantasy II/IV)]

As soon as Brain Bomber and Warlock Bomber left the scene, Boxer Bomber took the stage by busting a Smash Ball with his fists, transforming himself into the giant, mechanical bull known only as Boxin' Bull. "I'm taking no chances this time, foos! Get ready for extreme pain!"

"ただ思い出してください：青い服を着た少女は私のです。(Just remember: the girl in blue is mine.)"

"Wait a second," interrupted Arctic Bomber. "Since when do you speak Japanese?"

"I take it you haven't paid close attention while you were busy being paranoid," said Mona. "She's bilingual, meaning she can speak both English and Japanese fluently, at least to my knowledge."

"勇気がある人たちは割り込みます、偉大な脳爆破者を暗殺するためのとりでは不運です！(Those who dare intrude the stronghold to assassinate the great Brain Bomber are doomed!)"

"Ugh! Enough of this bullcrap!" yelled Arctic Bomber. "Just snap out of it, will ya?! You're the good-willed ninja, not some wannabe assassin-for-hire!"

"あなたの態度はただ北極のあなたの敗北をもたらすだけでしょう。 (Your attitude will only result in your defeat.)"

"Ohhh, how I LOVE smashing weak-bodied wusses like you into oblivion!" gloated Boxer Bomber. "My time to show you all my true power has arrived once more!"

Anyone who's ever fought Arctic Bomber before, and not just us, would likely figure out by now that she's never dealt with a ninja before in her entire life. She came charging at the brainwashed Yuffie, who jumped at the last second and kicked her in the face, sending her sprawling towards the ground. Arctic got up, and formed two icicle spears with a cold wind. Then she thrust the spears, which Yuffie easily shattered in half with a swift kick or two.

"Dammit, stop moving around so fast!" she cursed.

"気質、気質。 もしあなたがそれほど容易に怒らせられるなら、あなたは勝つことを望むことができません。 (Temper, temper. You cannot hope to win if you are so easily angered.)"

Elsewhere, Mona had some trouble with Boxer Bomber, even when Bill and Lance backed her up with their M16 machine guns. Thankfully, not too much had changed in his attack pattern since the last time we fought him. He trampled around while throwing hard punches in different ways, only for the group to dodge and counter him right back. He was so used to ending fights quickly with hard blows and KO punches, that he never even bothered to defend himself. Even so, he charged up a bolt of electricity atop his horns, and shot them at Bill, Lance, and Mona, incapacitating them instantly. Afterwards, he saw his chance to shove them off the arena and into a pit of electricity below. At the last second, however, the threesome miraculously regained consciousness and tripped him over, causing him to take the fall and die in the ensuing explosion upon hard contact with the electrified pit. This was the last thing Bill, Lance, and Mona saw before they passed out from the electrical damage inflicted upon them.

Arctic Bomber was doing terribly against the brainwashed Yuffie, missing almost every attack she could muster and getting bashed around in the end. "GAAAH! There's gotta be a freakin' way to stop the brainwashing! C'mon, Arctic...think, dammit! Think! I'm sure there's something I must have overheard when I...wait, I think I've got it!"

"あなたは私を破ることはその種類の態度で不可能であることを知っています。 今降伏してください、そうすれば私は平和にあなたを殺すでしょう。 (You know defeating me is impossible with that kind of attitude. Surrender now, and I will slay you peacefully.)" But before the brainwashed Yuffie could land a finishing blow, Arctic stepped up and held out a Bowling Bomb.

"Oh, Yuffie! See what I'm holding? This just so happens to be the _rarest_...no, more like one-of-a-kind Materia nobody has ever seen before." Despite her obvious lack of knowledge on what a Materia really was, let alone its capability, she continued bluffing anyway, whilst priming her bomb for detonation by twisting its upper half 180 degrees. "When it bursts in a pretty explosion, it'll give you the power to summon a super-huge bowling ball that'll mash anything in its path for a strike!"

[End BGM]

Suddenly, the mere mention of the word "Materia" caused Yuffie to temporarily snap out of the mind control that Brain Bomber cast upon her. She beamed with joy, holding out her hands like a hyperactive schoolgirl. She grabbed the supposed Materia and held onto it closer to herself _and_ Arctic Bomber. In just seconds, it exploded, not only destroying Arctic Bomber's helmet, but also covering both opponents in soot just before knocking them over. A few moments since, Arctic woke up and shook the soot off herself.

"Ouch...that sure took out my helmet," Arctic said to herself, "but I guess it's worth it. I know it ain't gonna be the same, but I'm sure Penny will make me a new one..."

Yuffie, on the other hand, came to her senses. "Huh? Wh-what am I doing, and why am I wearing _this_ outfit?"

"Hate to do this, ninja girl." The Mistress of the Cold pulled out her Glacier Ball and pounded Yuffie's head with it, knocking her out for real. "MAN, that fight was getting annoying..."

Suddenly, Ami and I showed up, still exhausted - but not that much now. "Are we on time?" I asked.

"What was going on just now?" wondered Ami.

Arctic Bomber sighed in relief. "I warn you...you are _not_ gonna believe what I just experienced tonight."

* * *

APPROXIMATELY 10-15 MINUTES EARLIER...

[Stage BGM: Base (Contra 4)]

_Mission 6B-2: Brain Bomber's underground base  
While Bill Rizer, Lance Bean, and Mona were in pursuit after Arctic Bomber, Aaron and Ami Onuki had barely escaped death once again.  
Now on the lower section of Brain Bomber's base, the twosome must catch up with the others - and hold their ground while they're at it.  
September 1, 20XX  
10:23 PM_

Elsewhere, at the lower section of the enemy base, Ami and I were exhausted as hell...but still standing tall. Unfortunately, the base was already on full alert ever since we fought and killed the Waterfall Alien minutes earlier. We were about to make a last stand for the evening, starting with getting some other power-ups sent from Crygor Labs for my Contra Rifle. I no longer needed the Ice Breath, so I replaced it with the Drill Shot, while getting the Crash Missiles for the empty weapon slot. It probably wasn't the best combination I got, but since Ami's using her cartoon bombs to back me up, it had to suffice for now.

"The sooner we kill Brain Bomber and save the last of our captured friends," I said, albeit weakly, "the better..."

"I know, Aaron...but like before, it's not gonna be easy..."

Suddenly, our communicators rang, with Bill and Lance on the line. _Aaron, Ami, this is Bill Rizer. We've just found Arctic Bomber and calmed her down. Are you two okay?_

I nodded in response. "Yeah...we just killed the Waterfall Alien...but not before taking a big, unaided dive."

"We're okay now..." added Ami. "And we've found the the entrance to the lower section of Brain Bomber's hideout. We'll do what we can to catch up..."

_Uh, you two sure you're okay?_ asked Lance. _You sound tired..._

_Just take it slow for now,_ suggested Bill, _but keep your heads down. We Contras need each other alive and on duty._

With that said, we hung up. "C'mon, Aaron...we're on our own. Take a deep breath or two..."

We took a few deep breaths to recuperate. "Yeah...I'm with you, Ami."

Recalling from _Contra 4_ once more, we recognized the area we're in as the third level. Needless to say, the only way to reunite with the others was to fight our way through - and that's by blowing open the metallic walls guarding the doors. Each wall was supported by one or two red cores, and defended by wall-mounted turrets. At the bottom of each wall, were barrel dispensers that sent out explosive barrels toward our direction. I used my Crash Missiles to detonate the barrels prematurely, while Ami took out the red cores for the first wall. We moved on to the next, and faced off against some alien soldiers bent on preventing our approach towards Brain Bomber's lair.

Sooner or later, we reached a room with a supercomputer inside. While this wasn't technically Brain Bomber's room, it actually housed the third boss from _Contra 4_. Upon our arrival, the supercomputer generated a mechanical brain above itself, and began sending out molecule-shaped shots and explosive barrels at me and Ami. Although, back in the very first _Contra_ (both in the Arcade and on the NES), there were two mechanical brains to destroy. This time, however, there was only one (and no red cores to destroy just to make it appear). All reminiscing aside, Ami used her bombs to take out the enemy guards, while I used my Crash Missiles to damage the mechanical brain and obliterate its attacks. Then it split into two to protect itself, sending out more molecule shots our way. When the brain came together again, we finished it off for good. Upon its destruction, the supercomputer exploded into pieces of scrap metal.

Ami beamed triumphantly."Now THAT brings back memories of our co-op sessions in _Contra 4_!"

"Yeah, I know. But right now, we must reunite with Bill, Lance, Mona, and Arctic Bomber. This way!"

[End BGM]

* * *

Meanwhile, not far from where Ami and I were, Arctic Bomber had just finished her own fight against the brainwashed Yuffie Kisaragi, in addition to knocking her out with her prized bowling ball. "MAN, that fight was getting annoying..." Immediately, she was surprised by our presence. Though we remained exhausted, we were a bit more relaxed now.

"Are we on time?" I asked.

"What was going on just now?" wondered Ami.

Arctic Bomber sighed in relief. "I warn you...you are _not_ gonna believe what I just experienced tonight."

Bill, Lance, and Mona, on the other hand, came to their senses. "Aaron! Ami! You're both okay!" The redhead hugged us tightly.

"We were worried about you," said Lance, "but fate has again brought us together. What about Yuffie?"

As we explained what we'd been through on our part, Yuffie woke up, rubbing her head in pain whilst tearing the damaged black garb out of her actual clothes. "Oooh...I feel like something heavy clocked my head...And this garb just doesn't go well with my style at all. Ow, my head..."

"It's a long story," replied Mona, "but we're glad to have you back to normal."

"The last thing I remembered was Brain Bomber saying he was gonna try something on me, and...that's it."

Bill pondered Yuffie's words, and concluded, "He must've brainwashed you to keep us at bay!"

Lance joined, "Just like he did to Max from _Bomberman Tournament_...although it was likely for a different reason or something."

Yuffie shuddered at the thought of being brainwashed, though she was quick to admit that she'd sometimes wish for the restoration of her old village of Wutai. Apparently, Brain Bomber found out about it and took advantage of her desire by impersonating the grand master whom she had recalled teaching her the ways of the ninja long before the Alien Wars. "Thanks for finding me, guys. I probably told 9-Volt about this before we left, but I have a bit of an obsession with Materia. You could say it was pretty ironic that it'd prove helpful in setting me free, I guess. Ha ha ha!"

"Yup," said Arctic Bomber. "Sorry I had to trick you like that by pretending my Bowling Bomb was a super-rare Materia, but I had to come up with something before I wound up kicking the bucket."

"Nah, it's alright. Speaking of which, I don't have any Black Magic spells given the Materia I currently have on my Conformer, but I make up for it with helpful White Magic spells: Cure, Regen, Protect, Shell, Esuna, Reflect, and Haste. Well, I wouldn't exactly call Haste a White Magic spell since it has something to do with time, but still. While I don't have many of said spells at my disposal, the ones I've mentioned will prove beneficial to us. Now let's finish our job by kicking Brain Bomber's sorry ass out of our planet!"

* * *

[Alert BGM: Dark Terror (Advance Wars: Dual Strike)]

Shortly after our reunion, we walked closer to Brain Bomber's lair, and eventually got in. Brain Bomber, flanked by Purple Basilisk and Warlock Bomber, was surprised to see us in one piece. "You just don't know when to give up and die, do you..."

"Let Wario and the others go, and we'll spare you," warned Mona.

But Arctic Bomber interrupted quickly. "Mona, we're not sparing him diddly! Did you see what he did to poor Yuffie earlier?!"

"I know that, but..."

"No 'buts'! He also must pay!" Arctic gave an angry glare at Brain Bomber and his cohorts. "You hearin' me, Brain?! It's your damn fault Mad Dog and Scorpion are dead! We will avenge them!"

"Avenge them, my ass!" Brain cackled. "Purple Basilisk, you and Warlock Bomber move out and make sure our nuclear warhead is prepared for launch towards Diamond City. If we Five Dastardly Bombers can't have it, no one will! I'll handle the fools myself."

Warlock Bomber nodded. "Whatever you say, Brain. This is gonna be fun."

"STOP!" I shouted. "No one is destroying Diamond City tonight!"

Brain Bomber wiggled his finger at us mockingly, as if to say no. "First, we deal! You let us launch our warhead, and we'll set your precious friends free."

"We'll still stop the warhead anyway!" retorted Ami.

"Meh. Have it your way. Oh, and when I said I'll handle you myself, I meant with said nuclear warhead!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Theme of the Mechanical Boss (Salamander 2)]

Brain Bomber got out a dark Smash Ball, broke it, and transformed himself into a computer virus. Purple Basilisk and Warlock Bomber stored his digital form into an SD card, and opened a large gate housing the giant nuclear warhead. While we freed Wario and the others, we could not prevent the launch from occurring. Warlock used his Black Magic to fly towards the top of the warhead, and installed Brain Bomber by inserting the SD card into its designated slot. From there, he had complete control of the warhead.

_With my digital form, the Brain Virus, this warhead will ensure the complete destruction of your Diamond City, located in the United States of America! That's right...I know where you live! If I have to perish like this, then at least I'll have taken your city with me! C'mon, release your rage upon me if you can. You know you want to._

"NO!" shouted Bill. "We're not like Red Falcon and his scumbag minions! In fact, we're not letting you kill our town off the face of the Earth!"

Lance joined, "That goes double for our friends who live there! We won't let you get away!"

_On the contrary, your fate is much closer than you realize. But don't worry, you'll have all the time you need to ponder my words when you're dead._

* * *

And so, we all got out our emergency supply of magnetic boots and gloves, and climbed aboard the nuclear warhead prior to its scheduled launch time. Warlock and Boxer wouldn't stand for this, and came after us with their jetpacks. Ami and I, however, were busy conversing with each other that we didn't notice their appearances.

"We have to stop Brain Bomber NOW! That warhead's gonna blow up our hometown in a matter of minutes!"

"But how?! That part never happened in _Contra 4_, whereas Brain Bomber didn't transform into anything in _Bomberman Tournament_!"

Then Mona interrupted our conversation. "Heads up, fellas! Warlock Bomber's back again!"

"Correct!" blurted Warlock Bomber. "This time, I don't intend on holding back! My Black Magic will ensure your painful deaths!"

"This'll be our final confrontation with me involved!" boasted Purple Basilisk. "No, really! I'm going all the way, whether you like it or not!"

"Oh yeah?!" retorted Yuffie. "We'll defeat you again, only this time with the help of our positive feelings!"

Warlock Bomber attacked with his strongest spells, while Yuffie cast Reflect on our party, including herself, to block them off. That's when Warlock retaliated by casting Dispel to shatter the barriers, followed by Silence to prevent Yuffie from backing us up with her spells. Henceforth, he got on with the incantation to unleash Flare, but Bill and Lance took the opportunity to unload on him, while Arctic Bomber blew up his jetpack with her Bowling Bombs. Though the resulting explosions did not kill him, they sent him careening out of control - and out of the fight. In the meantime, Ami and I aided Bill and Lance by keeping Purple Basilisk at bay.

"AAAAH! I'm gonna pay you back for thiiiiss...!" Warlock Bomber was never heard from again, at least until another day he'd continue the fight himself.

"Good!" cheered Kat. "Now we can destroy Brain Bomber!"

"And take out that mega-huge warhead!" added Ana. "It's getting closer to Diamond City!"

I quickly got out my communicator to contact our friends for help. "Blaze Bomber! Penny! Can you hear us?"

All we heard momentarily was static, until Blaze Bomber's voice came on._ Loud and clear!_

"That nuclear warhead's headed straight for Diamond City," explained Ami, "and Brain Bomber's hijacked it with his virus form!"

_What?! We're on our way!_

Even when Blaze Bomber arrived, he alone could not stop the warhead with his flame powers. However, he did a quick scan, and told us to aim for its head. We used our magnetic boots and gloves to get to the head of the missile as fast as we could, and wailed on it with our strongest attacks possible. When that didn't work much, Blaze Bomber burned part of the metallic layer away from us with his flames, and Ami followed up with her pumped-up Ice Bomb. The sudden change in temperature eventually caused the burned part to break apart, thus giving me an opportunity to finish the job with my Drill Shot, which I gladly kept for just such an occasion. Thanks to its armor-piercing capabilities, all it took was one shot to penetrate towards the inside of the warhead itself. We could then hear Brain Bomber screaming in agony afterwards. _GYAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!_

Kat gasped, "I think he's gonna blow!"

"We've gotta jump off now!" panicked Ana.

"It ain't cool if we die!" added Jimmy.

"Penny! NOW!" shouted Mona.

_Roger!_

We immediately jumped off, while Penny Crygor came to our rescue in the CrygorCopter. It wasn't fully ready for space travel yet, but it was better than plummeting to our deaths. We flew off with Blaze Bomber as the giant warhead exploded, killing Brain Bomber in the process. During the explosion, Purple Basilisk was sent careening toward the coastal beach in Diamond City, having lost control of his jetpack. Young Cricket and Ashley, also aboard the helicopter, jumped out to chant a tag-team spell which if perfected in sync, it would banish its target to the underworld. They landed on the beach feet-first, ready to do their part.

[End BGM]

"You mere punks think you can banish me with _that_? HA! The Crimson Stone still flows through my veins, meaning I will never be truly defeated, even in daylight! Now taste the flames of hell!" He attempted to incite a wall of fire upon Young Cricket and Ashley, but to no avail. "Huh? What's happening to me? Where's my power?!"

"While you were busy with Aaron and Ami," explained Young Cricket, "our new friend Yuffie whipped up some White Magic to remove the essence of the evil stone from within you. She told us everything just as the Four Contras destroyed the nuclear warhead with Brain Bomber's virus form inside."

Purple Basilisk gasped in confusion. "But that's impossible! Warlock Bomber cast Silence on her!"

"Not if I have some Echo Herbs at my disposal to cure that," corrected Yuffie. "But anyway, a barrage of Curaga, along with a helping of Esuna did the trick on your powers! These White Magic spells are effective against the undead. From what I'm told, the Crimson Stone bears the curse of a vampire and feeds on negativity, but is warded off by positive energy."

"In short, you're going back where you belong now!" shouted Ashley. "The power of my magic, combined with Young Cricket's chi, will banish you!"

"By the way," interrupted Yuffie, still eyeing Purple Basilisk, "what was that about 9-Volt being as cowardly as his dad was, again?"

Purple Basilisk stammered about, as if to think of something. With nothing left to protect him, he took the path of the coward by attempting to fast-talk his way out of punishment. "W-Wait! You don't understand! I've been on your side all along...really! I don't know what came over me...but truly, uh, it was the Crimson Stone's essence talking all this time! I-It made me mock and taunt you guys, and wreak havoc as long as it lived within me!" As he was begging for mercy, he reached for a red self-destruct button on the left side of his damaged jetpack, whilst retaining his nervous smile. "But...but now you've expelled it from my body with your power of justice and love! Together, we can defeat Red Falcon once and for all!"

Did he think we were stupid or something? We all thought the same question as we were not about to fall for his lies, given how predictable he was at this point in comparison to Red Falcon, Sniper Bomber, and Axe Bomber. Yuffie caught him pressing the self-destruct button on his own jetpack, pried it out of his back with little trouble, and threw it across the sea where it exploded harmlessly. Afterwards, Ashley and Young Cricket chanted the banishment spell simultaneously, and in just seconds the alien lieutenant screamed in agony as he became enveloped by the spell's power. "No!...NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You can't do this to me! There's no way I'm letting vermin such as you imprison me again! You just wait till my Chaotic Bombers are revived from the dead someday, and my Basilisk Dynasty rejuvenated!"

"Face it, Purple Basilisk," said Bill. "your days of abusing the Crimson Stone's power are over. Though your words may intimidate us to make yourself look tough, you're nothing but Red Falcon's stooge in battle without your mechs to back you up. If anyone out there's a coward, it's you for your own malicious deeds - with or without the cursed stone itself to aid you."

"Oh yeah?! Just you wait till the moment you die in outer space aboard the Death Falcon! Then we'll see who's the cowardly stooge amongst the living and the dead! I promise yooooooouuuuu...!" With his last words, the purple-skinned humanoid lieutenant was banished to the underworld right after Ashley and Young Cricket's incantation was done. He no longer had any opportunity of breaking out again, and no contribution to anymore of the Red Falcon Empire's success. In other words, he was finally out of our hair for good.

* * *

[Victory BGM: Elemental Stone (Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!)]

"YEAH!" cheered Arctic Bomber. "The honor of Sergeants Mad Dog and Scorpion has been avenged!"

"More importantly," added Blaze Bomber, "we all cheated death to stop Brain Bomber and the warhead from killing us all."

I nodded. "Mm-hmm...but Ami and I are gonna need medical help again. Perhaps even Bill and Lance, too."

"Yeah, we almost died back at the Galuga Archipelago!"

Penny smiled warmly. "Don't worry, I'll arrange for that. You've earned it."

"The Five Dastardly Bombers are gone for good," said Lance. "All that's left is Red Falcon and his loyal generals."

With that, we headed back to Diamond City to fully recuperate for an oncoming assault on the Death Falcon space station in space. However, with Metamorph Bomber and Warlock Bomber still at large, we could only pray that they wouldn't try and mess up our town like Magnet Bomber did...

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The Five Dastardly Bombers have been eliminated off the face of the Earth, and it's a one-way trip to Red Falcon's main base at last for our heroes!

EDIT: I forgot to mention about Brain Bomber's transformation, mainly the one I made up. Originally, he never had one in _Bomberman Tournament_, nor has he shown any signs of transforming like the other four Dastardly Bombers. Therefore, I thought of a transformation that would best fit his persona, and thus came up with the digital Brain Virus.


	16. Evil Means Business!

The story's conclusion draws near, for I intend to make it as epic as possible. Though I can't promise it will be picture-perfect to everybody on FanFiction, I'm still willing to do the best I can. The chapters at this point will be real long, but I shall make them a great way to end what I think is one of the best fanfics I've ever written.

Either way, enjoy the rest of the story, and as usual, don't forget to review if you can. I know I haven't said this long ago, but I didn't want to sound like I'm repeating myself since I assume you already know your way around this site.

**DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 15: Evil Means Business!

[Interlude BGM: Moonlit Army (Contra: Hard Corps)]

Meanwhile, aboard the Death Falcon space fortress, Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber made an important announcement to Red Falcon's remaining brethren that were lucky enough to have survived. In fact, the twosome were lucky to have been patched up by Red Falcon with cybernetic implants. Still, they weren't too happy about us blowing a big chunk of their dictatorship out of existence.

"People of Lord Red Falcon's army," began Sniper Bomber, "we of the Hate Bombers have provided for you our most powerful army of killing machines, the evil Bombermen and women - all led by Purple Basilisk's Chaotic Bombers, along with the Five Dastardly Bombers we revived with Lord Red Falcon's help. We were all guaranteed an indestructible army during our campaign, which involved conquering the major countries of Earth. Not even the strongest military bases stood much of a chance against our reign! We of the Red Falcon Empire had complete control of the Earth throughout the majority of August in the year of 20XX AD. The obvious reason was because we reinforced all of our killer Bombermen with Super Titanium alloy, rendering Earth's weapons useless. None could ever touch our creations any longer! You all had nothing to fear, and marched your way to the enslavement of mankind!" Upon finishing his part of the speech, he and Axe were pissed.

"And how do you repay us?!" shouted the heavyset Hate Bomber. "I mean, seriously! Diamond City, California...along with the rest of the United States - your sorry asses were beaten! But even in said city, you let two - not two thousand, but TWO - guys defeat you by the thousands! Well, one American guy and one pink-haired Japanese girl, but still! You're all trained killers! Next came Brazil in South America...you were also beaten! And again, by two Earthers! Bill Rizer and Lance Bean this time, if you will! Now that, if I say so myself, is absolutely no fun at all! Gah!"

"France in Europe, along with Egypt in Africa - those stubborn soldiers of the US were lucky enough to have chased you off because they had those accursed Four Contras to hold their hands! Japan, China, and finally, the Galuga Archipelago off the coast of New Zealand...you were all wiped out by the thousands! We had sheer numbers compared to those of the Four Contras'! We were completely stripped of our dictatorship in just about 5 frickin' days because of our massive losses! But worst of all, that ninja girl named Yuffie Kisaragi nearly obliterated both Crasher and Blaster's bodies out of existence! You better hope that incident in China didn't defeat our purpose of getting the Contras and their friends to feed Lord Red Falcon their sorrows and anger as part of his revival, because if it did...well, it doesn't matter, since Axe and I guarantee they'll wind up dead by our hands."

"Thanks to her efforts, that 9-Volt kid and his girlfriend still live, but tonight at exactly midnight, we'll retake Diamond City, and while we're at it..." Metamorph Bomber, Crasher, and Blaster came in, prompting Axe Bomber to pause his part of the speech.

"We take the boy's soul!" suggested Metamorph Bomber. "You just leave everything to me, for I can only be eradicated by extreme heat! Lord Red Falcon doesn't only require the negativity spread across the Earth, but he also requires the souls of the humans who perished...which I am personally attending to as we speak. To top it all, we must have the soul of a pure-hearted Earth child, whom I once heard is apparently descended from the one called Rydia."

"And that boy is the one named 9-Volt," added Blaster, "the very same child who stopped us from conquering all of Video Game Dream a few months ago! All hope will be crushed before his friends' very eyes for real!"

Crasher raised his right fist triumphantly. "He and his girlfriend will be sorry they crossed us not once, but twice! We personally guarantee it! Destruction, sorrow, and despair...our dear master hungers for these negative feelings."

"Speaking of which," said Sniper Bomber, "both Axe Bomber and I have a very unpleasant surprise in store just for Aaron, Ami, Bill, and Lance!"

"Yeah! We won't just take over Diamond City again...we're gonna _destroy the entire planet_! If we can't have it...NOBODY CAN!"

As the hours went by, Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber assisted Red Falcon by powering up an ultimate weapon capable of destroying an entire planet, with him as the ultimate source of said weapon and the entire space fortress itself, which they had been converting from an ordinary space station into a bio-mechanical planetoid since the beginning of World War III. Meanwhile, Metamorph Bomber gave Crasher and Blaster the ability to take an innocent victim's soul, with a combined disguise as Death (aka. the Grim Reaper). With that, the twosome teleported to Diamond City on Earth, and went to 9-Volt's house, where Phoebe, 5-Volt, Mona, Yuffie, 18-Volt, and even Phoebe's father stayed to look after 9-Volt until the end of the war Once there, the villainous duo started off their scheme by giving 9-Volt a nightmare...

_HA HA HA HA HA! We shall take your soul!_

Much later, it was midnight. We of the good guys had assembled at Crygor Labs for our final briefing. Penny Crygor had bad news for us.

[End BGM]  
[Alert BGM: Mission Ahead (Star Wars Rogue Squadron)]

"Guys," began Penny, "Blaze Bomber and I have just discovered some shocking news! While we were off saving the entire world from the Five Dastardly Bombers, it looked as though Red Falcon had been secretly building some sort of secret weapon!"

"I overheard back when I was still held prisoner, that he and his men were planning to build a weapon capable of destroying the entire planet Earth, if by any chance we good guys manage to work our way around their dreaded Super Titanium-reinforced Bombermen!"

Then Mona said, "The worse part...is that 9-Volt's dead! It was my turn when I went into his room to check on him, and found him dead on his bed!"

Arctic Bomber gasped. "WHAT?! Only two monsters like Crasher and Blaster would do something like this! I'd never even dream of going that far, even when I was still a bully back then..."

Wario growled, "If this is their sick-ass idea of getting me to submit to them...they can FORGET IT!"

[Interrupt BGM]  
[Briefing BGM: Stage Select - Mavericks (Mega Man X5)]

"Penny, we've got to strike the Death Falcon now!" ordered Bill.

Penny nodded. "Both the CrygorCopter and the Contra Cruiser are ready for both combat and travel in space. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," said Lance. "We'll do it, or die trying."

"For Mad Dog and Scorpion," added Arctic Bomber. "The time to avenge them is upon us! I swear it!"

Next came Yuffie. "Don't forget, Arctic Bomber: this one's also for our young friend and Mona's little brother, 9-Volt. I'm thankful I volunteered for my Conformer to be fused with Star energy so I don't have to keep relying on Star Drinks. Don't wanna risk an overdose with all the commotion going on..."

And finally, it was my turn. "We'll also do it for Sgt. Billy 'Droidman' Hill, the undercover cop who helped me and Ami escape one of Magnet Bomber's death camps, so we could live to free all of you, and destroy the Five Dastardly Bombers while we were at it."

"Only ten of us could fit inside our helicopter," said Blaze Bomber, "but now, up to twelve of us can do so. I'll gladly take the risk."

Phoebe stepped forth, after praying with her father for our safe return from space. "I'll lead Kat and Ana towards helping you guys defeat the evil forces of Red Falcon, and save 9-Volt's soul. Though my Super Scope is blessed with Video Game Dream's magic rather than holy power, Penny and Blaze Bomber modified it with Star energy so my cannonballs can pierce the Super Titanium alloy."

Kat and Ana, on the other hand, prayed with their sensei that their katana blades, also modified with Star energy, would enable them to smite evil. Cheerful White, Cool Black, and Cute Pink dutifully stated that as long as they're alive, they'd assist us in saving lives, mostly 9-Volt's, and the eventual defeat of the Red Falcon Empire.

With this, we were now fully healed and ready to take to the starry skies in space. Arctic Bomber, Blaze Bomber, Wario, Mona, Ashley, Red, Young Cricket, 5-Volt, Yuffie, Cheerful White, Cool Black, and Cute Pink flew aboard the modified CrygorCopter, while Kat, Ana, and Phoebe rode Dribble and Spitz's taxi cab. Bill, Lance, Ami, and I hopped in our Contra Cruiser to lead our one-way ticket to space. We would eventually arrive at the Death Falcon in space, within an hour, all while Earth's military bases do what they can to distract the outer defenses. Warlock Bomber and Metamorph Bomber are still alive, but we anticipated their opportunity to give their full power in retaliation for the Five Dastardly Bombers' deaths. The question that now remains is: can we survive to tell the tale to future generations? This won't be like last time, but it would be worth our efforts. And what did Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber exactly have in store for us Four Contras? Only by running into them will we ever find out for sure...

[End BGM]

* * *

[Stage BGM: Intestines (Contra: Shattered Soldier)]

_Mission 7: The Death Falcon  
Despite our heroes' efforts to stop the Five Dastardly Bombers, it was revealed at the last minute that the Red Falcon Empire had been secretly constructing an ultimate weapon, capable of destroying an entire planet - in our case, Earth!  
The Four Contras, along with Blaze Bomber, Arctic Bomber, and their close friends, are dispatched for a final strike mission...one that might be mankind's last hope for survival. And that goes double for Bomber-kind on Planet Bomber. Once more, time grows short - only now, the impending destruction will be a lot worse than a mere nuclear warhead!  
September 2, 20XX  
1:35 AM_

This was the end, with no way of turning back anymore. We joined up with the remnants of Earth's military space ships; while we would get off at the Death Falcon space fortress's main entrance, Ashley, Red, and Young Cricket rode the taxi cab to assist Dribble and Spitz in keeping the outer defenses busy. It was all up to us to end Red Falcon's reign of terror once and for all. As expected from the alien warmonger himself, the fortress's interior was 75% metal, 25% alien...at least until we'd get closer to his lair. Strangely, most of the alien soldiers inside were less focused on killing us, with a big alien bug rushing after them for reasons unknown. The grunts ran for their lives, with only a few getting mauled to death by the creature's pointy legs. Yuffie pulled out some explosive shurikens and threw them one after another, followed by Ami's Fire Bombs, blowing the creature to guts instantly. Though we couldn't get why it killed some of Red Falcon's men first before turning its attention toward us, Blaze Bomber had a gut feeling it was in a frenzy at our presence, and that the alien grunts were in its way.

"I guess it's Konami Barrier time for both of us, Ami," I said. "We'll go first, then Bill and Lance will follow."

"I'm with you, Aaron. Things are getting chaotic, so here we go again!"

"Up, up, down, down!"

"Left, right, left, right!"

Then we shouted in unison, "B, A, Select, and Start!"

When Ami and I activated our 30-hit Konami Barriers, Bill and Lance did the same for theirs. After powering up our protection from fatal damage, the four of us shouted in unison: "We are Contras!" Our friends followed behind us, while Kat, Ana, and Phoebe made certain to stay close to Cheerful White, Cool Black, and Cute Pink so neither one would be killed during our final mission. Yuffie, on the other hand, made careful preparations by casting Protect and Shell on our whole group, giving us protection from both physical and magic attacks alike. Immediately, Warlock Bomber appeared before us with a Smash Ball in his hands. He broke it, increasing his Black Magic powers; thus he summoned the undead versions of the four Chaotic Bombers we killed, each with their Smash Ball-fueled transformations (sans Trigger Bomber), and ordered them to attack us at once while he charged up his Flare spell.

"This can't wait! I've been holding back from showing you my full power long enough. It's high-time I ended your pathetic lives once and for all!" Before he began the incantation of his ultimate attack, he cast Dispel to nullify the status effects provided on our part by Protect and Shell, and took a moment to mock us. "What's wrong? Feeling stressed about running into me over and over? Don't worry, let me give you all the time you need..."

To emphasize his words, he cast Slow on all of us, reducing our movements by half. Then he charged up for Flare while the undead illusions came after us. Slowly but surely (despite taking some damage), Yuffie counteracted the spell with Haste, recovering our speed instantly; Bill, Lance, Ami, and I ran after him in retaliation, intent on shielding our friends with our bodies from the spell's deadly force. As the others fought valiantly and destroyed the undead illusions without too much trouble, they gasped at the sight of Warlock Bomber's fully-charged Flare, having realized that he intended to stall us for his ultimate attack. Then he unleashed the spell, causing a heavy, heated explosion that appeared to inflict fatal, non-elemental damage to us Four Contras.

Warlock Bomber cackled maniacally, having succeeded at doing what he almost did in our past encounters. "Your Contra friends are dead! Now Blaze Bomber and Arctic Bomber are next to die!" Just as he finished boasting, he was both shocked and amazed to see us still in one piece. "Impressive...yet so surprising to one such as I. Never before in my life had anyone ever survived my Flare attack before. My other attempts on the human vermin I faced besides you had been far more successful...but I digress."

"Never underestimate our 30-hit Konami Barriers," announced Ami.

"Clever, quite clever. Lucky for you, I prefer to finish the job when paired up with Metamorph Bomber and the others. By the way, while I'm powered up by the Smash Ball, my magic energy will never run out as long as I'm not defeated or killed! But getting back to the point at hand: should you live to reach our lair just outside the Death Falcon's core...well, you get the picture. Don't disappoint me, Contras! And that goes double for your friends!" With that, he teleported himself out of the heavily-charred hallway, while Blaze Bomber tossed out some useful power-ups from his portable satchel, intent on giving me, Bill, and Lance the upper hand. Bill snagged the Spread Gun; Lance caught the Laser Beam; and I added the Crash Missiles and Ice Breath to my Contra Rifle's empty weapon slots.

Afterwards, everyone of us moved on again, making sure to take out the hidden turrets and the alien soldiers. As soon as we reached the door to the elevator, a bunch of alien soldiers came rushing toward us whilst stacking themselves up in an acrobatic fashion, by forming a giant O. While most of us were baffled at the thought of being attacked in one of the most unusual ways possible, Ami and I were able to recognize this movement from one of the miniboss fights in _Contra: Hard Corps_. All the aliens did was roll towards our direction in their giant O movement, but that didn't stop Ami from blasting them with her Fire Bombs. The explosions knocked the acrobatic soldiers off, forcing them to change their formation to a giant I. They made like a Slinky-ish toy by leaning towards the floor in an effort to knife us, but Cheerful White, Cool Black, and Cute Pink slide-kicked the guy standing on the floor, causing every soldier to lose their balance and fall off. They grew mad, and formed a giant pyramid by stacking themselves atop each other.

"Now this is MY kind of movie set!" Arctic Bomber boasted, as she got out her Bowling Bomb, warning us to stand back. Then she rolled her bomb towards the acrobatic soldiers in a bowling fashion. The following blast eventually blew them away for good - with most stragglers fleeing from us. "That's _all_ you mooks can do? What a drag."

Once we finally got inside the elevator, we took a ride to the lowest floor it could take us (although not all the way to the core itself). Along the way, another strange-looking creature with pointy legs at its sides (and up front!) busted the door open, and jumped down towards us. Any _Contra_ expert would recognize that kind of beast as the "Beast Kimkoh." In fact, the one we're facing right now resembled the miniboss of level 5 in _Neo Contra_. All it did was ram towards us; we got out of the way before it hit the wall. The monster jumped back at the elevator's center and spun around, whilst shooting a laser beam out of both its eyes. We barely jumped over it, while Arctic Bomber got fried a little. Then Blaze Bomber inflicted burning damage on the Beast Kimkoh with his Molotov cocktails.

"Stubborn monster!" complained Arctic. "I just had my brand new helmet detailed!"

While Arctic Bomber shot out her icy shards, Bill and Lance attacked with both their Spread Gun and Laser Beam weapons, until the Beast Kimkoh stopped to molt its thick skin. We were grossed out, while Ami and I weren't that surprised to see a giant moth-like alien with dragonfly wings hatch out. From that point on, we dubbed that creature the "Moth Kimkoh." It flew around the elevator - still above us - and attempted to swipe us with its crescent-shaped energy attacks. Thankfully, they were destructible; we returned our attention back at the moth-like alien. With enough blasts, we were able to down the monster for good, with its green blood oozing out of its dead body. Despite having sustained a few hits and losing our power-ups during the entire fight, Bill and Lance weren't too worried, and neither was I. Finally, the elevator reached the destination: Crasher, Blaster, and Warlock Bomber's lair.

[End BGM]

* * *

"Well, guys," I began, "this is the place. Needless to say, we either defeat Warlock Bomber and his sinister allies, or die trying."

"The time has come to end Red Falcon's reign of terror forever," said Mona.

"And we'll make sure he and his scumbag minions stay dead!" added Wario.

[Danger BGM: Room of Rites (The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages)]

Just then, Crasher appeared from out of nowhere alongside Blaster, Warlock Bomber, and Metamorph Bomber. "I don't think so, King Tubby! It's you who should stay dead!" Then Crasher wasted not a single moment grabbing Cheerful White by the neck!

Cool Black shouted, "No! Let go of him!"

"Never!" hissed Crasher.

Cute Pink put up her dukes, yelling, "You leave my best friend alone!"

Blaster huffed in denial. "You've stood in our way long enough!"

Warlock Bomber added, "Meddling with our plans was the biggest mistake of your lives! But as your reward for getting this far, we stab Cheerful White to death!"

Crasher got out a combat knife, but not before Blaze Bomber kicked it off of him. "Not while we still stand! Cheerful White stays with us, alive!"

Arctic Bomber glared at the assailants, still bent on her revenge. "And don't even think for a moment that I've forgotten the same bastards who organized the deaths of our squadmates from the United States's Delta Force! This...is for killing Mad Dog and Scorpion!" Despite her blind ignorance to the fact that it was Brain Bomber who directly ordered the deaths of Sergeants Mad Dog and Scorpion, Arctic picked up the knife and yelled like an Amazon warrior, as she stabbed Crasher in his left leg with his own knife, causing him to lose his death grip on Cheerful White. Then she got out one of her Bowling Bombs, inflicting additional damage upon Blaster with it.

"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHH!"

"OUCH!"

The humanoid killers were sent sprawling to the ground upon screaming in agony. "My new allies that my creator brought before us!" cried Warlock Bomber.

Crasher was wincing in both pain and anger. "Aaaauugh! B-blood...blood! You vicious teenaged brat! Ow...Grrr! You know, you really are a stupid, arrogant, bitchy, spoiled, pampered, backstabbing..." He pulled his own combat knife off of his bleeding leg, and threw it at a wall. "...LITTLE BRAT!"

Blaster got up from the floor. "You've gone and pissed us off for the last time! It just wasn't bad enough 9-Volt and Phoebe stripped us of our powers we inherited as the last pieces of Zeromus; not to mention the time Wario sent us to hell by blowing up our personal escape flight at an airport we took over in your precious Diamond City!" He got out a rocket launcher and aimed it directly at Kat, Ana, and Phoebe. "But I now see you're mourning little 9-Volt's untimely demise, so therefore, your souls will make fine additions for your insolence!"

Wario scoffed. "Killing Kat, Ana, and Phoebe with a freakin' rocket launcher?! Now that's just LOW! You'll have to kill me first!" The rocket was shot out, but Wario punched it back, hurting them along with Warlock Bomber and Metamorph Bomber in the process.

"YEEEAAARRRGH!" screamed Crasher. "You'll pay for that, Wario! You took our lives once, but tonight, we'll be happy to take YOURS!"

"You're gonna regret making us reveal to you our ultimate weapon that we've been keeping secret!" snarled Blaster.

"When we're through," added Warlock Bomber, "not a single strand of your DNA will remain!"

To our surprise, Warlock Bomber used his Smash Ball-fueled magic to revive the Five Dastardly Bombers for the final go-round. Magnet Bomber, Golem Bomber, Evil Pretty Bomber, Brain Bomber, and Plasma Bomber all merged together into one ultimate fighting machine. Crasher and Blaster personally manned the combined mech from inside the cockpit mounted atop itself.

Crasher announced, "Now, let's match the true power of master Purple Basilisk's scientific intellect, against your precious holy power and Star energy! By the way, I hope you and your girlfriend are ready to die, fat boy!"

"More like ready to kick your asses again!" retorted Wario.

Mona added, "You're just a couple hollow shells of your former selves with an inflated ego!"

"Though I'm not a vengeful kind of person, despite having lost my husband," said 5-Volt, though a bit out of character for a kind mother such as herself, "taking my only son's life won't be tolerated!"

[End BGM]  
[Boss BGM: Pokey Means Business (EarthBound)]

Warlock Bomber, Metamorph Bomber, Crasher, and Blaster had had enough of our persistence. Our efforts left them with no other option but to bring back the Five Dastardly Bombers for one last battle: by merging them into one giant fighting robot. Cheerful White and Cool Black recognized it as the same killing machine Bagular himself used prior to his untimely demise long ago. They believed they would succeed once again with our help, but due to the Super Titanium alloy the Five Dastardly Bombers have now, the two Bombermen were wrong.

"This won't be like our encounter back in China on your planet," sneered Crasher, "thanks to the one thing we did that your nemesis, Bagular, couldn't do. And you know what it is, don't you?"

Cheerful White answered, "We know. The Super Titanium thingy..."

"That's right!" blurted Blaster. "Thanks to master Purple Basilisk's efforts, your bombs cannot touch us, but we _can_!"

Then Metamorph Bomber announced, "And my three comrades aren't the only ones taking the stage! Don't think just because you managed to deduce my clever ruse, that I've given up on killing you! You're about to witness my true potential, fueled by the Smash Ball I possess - courtesy of Lords Red Falcon, Sniper Bomber, and Axe Bomber! This'll enhance my transformation capabilities, big time! Behold the Mega Transformation, and fear its might!"

Metamorph Bomber broke the spherical artifact, thus enhancing his ability to morph into anything. When we last fought him, he couldn't take the form of anything huge, but with the Smash Ball, he's able to do so. We stared in awe as he took the form of the large killing machine that Crasher and Blaster were piloting, so that they both matched.

"Ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA! This, fellow weaklings, is what I mean by 'big time'!"

"So anyway," said Warlock Bomber, "which of the two is the real deal? Do you insolent worms know?" Both the mechs teleported all around the large arena, until they came back to where they were just now.

"Figured it out yet?" taunted Crasher. "Take all the time you like, while running away like little cowards!"

"You hear me, Wario?" mocked Blaster. "You'd better run on home, while saying something like, 'Mommy! Mommy! There were those big, scary machines, and they're coming to kill me! I think I'm gonna wet my pants!' Oh wait, we forgot: you're trapped here, with no chance of escape!"

"Only holy power and Star energy can give us pause," said Warlock Bomber, immediately casting Reflect on himself. While it was common the spell can only reflect magic attacks once per turn, his version - souped up by the Smash Ball's energy - could now reflect said spells _bounced back_ at him nonstop for triple the pain rather than twice the damage.

"I know, and we still have it!" shouted Ami. "We may look exhausted, but we're no porcelain dolls."

"We trained to become strong warriors for a reason," joined Bill. "Though we may suffer from near-death situations on occasions, we possess the will to stand tall."

"Yeah," added Lance. "That's why there exists the 'Purple Heart', a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those in the army that have been wounded or killed in action. In our case, us Contras have shown our capabilities to survive - and cheat death."

"Ami and I were nearly killed by Magnet Bomber's laser-trip mines back on Earth," I stated, "but thankfully, we weren't severely wounded beyond medical help."

Bill gave one other example of how we survived. "And the day Evil Pretty Bomber self-destructed in a last-ditch effort to take out her own underwater base with me and my buddy inside? Technically, that could've killed us, had it not been for our Star Energy drinks which were about to wear off that time."

"It probably sounds as if we Four Contras are merely pieces of iron," I concluded, "but the truth is, we're only human."

At this, Crasher and Blaster groaned in annoyance, with the former shouting, "Bleh! You all sound like a giant self-help seminar combined!"

"You may have banished our master to the underworld," sneered Blaster, "but his true power of science will never die!"

Yuffie retorted, "Not if you guys are abusing it in an effort to _kill people_!"

"ENOUGH!" thundered Metamorph Bomber. "The time for talk is over!"

* * *

As soon as we began the final struggle against Crasher and Blaster, Warlock Bomber stared Arctic Bomber down as if to say something to her. Since he knows everything about the original Hate Bombers (though Blaze Bomber wasn't really one of them to begin with) since Purple Basilisk created him and the other Chaotic Bombers, he believed Arctic Bomber could have been one of the finest, had it not been for her overwhelming immaturity and sick obsession with taking me to be her eternal slave. However, she was personally tired of the Red Falcon Empire, ever since they kicked her out. The moment Crasher and Blaster mentioned that "it would've all been so much simpler," Arctic Bomber snapped. She swiped one of the Star Drinks from Wario, opened up the can itself, and gulped down all of the drink inside. Then she shouted, "It IS simple! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Crasher and Blaster activated a flamethrower from Golem Bomber's head, which Arctic Bomber counteracted with an unnatural flamethrower of her own (again due to the Star Drink not recognizing her as pure-hearted, though she didn't care anymore). When both flames made contact, the reaction set off an explosion, knocking both opposing factions away from each other. We got up, only to get knocked down again, this time by machine gunfire and the aptly-named "Magnet Missiles." Blaze Bomber wasn't hurt too much, while Arctic Bomber got up from being knocked away to come flailing her arms about.

"MONSTERS! You freaking killed-"

Crasher groaned, "Yeah yeah, we frickin' killed your new best friends, Mad Dog and Scorpion, by sending the Waterfall Alien after all of you back on Galuga Island..."

Blaster sighed. "Seriously, what is it with you women, anyway? We killed some of our own men the other day, but you don't hear us bitching and moaning about it!"

Yuffie scoffed in response. "And yet you have no qualms with remorselessly stealing poor 9-Volt's soul. For that, we'll destroy you in the name of justice and peace!"

"Oh yeah?!" snarled Blaster. "You've all yet to see what our all-powerful mech can do! We are the true gods of science!"

"No way, jerkasses!" retorted Wario. "You're a big joke! Hell, your evil empire freakin' _steals_ our planet's military technology for its own selfish gain!"

Meanwhile, Blaze Bomber turned his attention towards me, Ami, Bill, and Lance. He knew time was running out, and that we're the only ones capable of destroying Red Falcon for good. "We'll do what we can to destroy the rest of Red Falcon's followers once and for all. The four of you have to stop Red Falcon, Sniper Bomber, and Axe Bomber! According to Penny's readings, we only have less than an hour left! Here, take my satchel; it contains the Contra power-ups you'll need in case of trouble, but it can only carry so many at once, so try not to lose too many."

"We hear you loud and clear, Blaze!" I acknowledged. "There's no turning back anymore, fellow Contras! Let's rock and roll!"

"Nice try," interrupted Warlock Bomber, "but Lord Red Falcon bars those who are not evil from getting in to our base's core with an energy field of his own!"

"Care to make a wager on that?" retorted Blaze Bomber, turning his attention toward our friends. "Yuffie, you know what to do!"

Yuffie nodded. "I'm on it, Blaze!"

Bill, Lance, Ami, and I ran past Crasher, Blaster, Metamorph Bomber, and Warlock Bomber - all whilst swerving around their attacks to avoid getting hurt. On top of that, we took two of our three remaining Smash Balls with us, while Yuffie used the last one to blow open the path to the Death Falcon's core with her "All Creation" Final Smash. Its blast not only damaged Metamorph Bomber, but it also made a big hole in the energy field, thus giving us Four Contras the opportunity to make our way through before the temporary hole closed up. And get through we did. Meanwhile, the intense blast took out Metamorph Bomber's "Mega Transformation" form, forcing him back to his normal self.

"Nooo! I am one of the greatest of Lord Red Falcon's creations! This can't be!"

"It's over for you, purple punk! You lose!" That being said, Arctic Bomber breathed out a stream of Star-powered flames once more to finish him off, but not without hurting her throat again.

"You fools can't prolong the inevitable! Evil shall never...AAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!" With his last words, he was incinerated.

"Ack..." coughed Arctic Bomber. "Okay...no more Star Drinks after this, and I really mean it. Ow, ow, ow...I really need some ice _drinking_ water."

Warlock Bomber glared in anger. "You'll pay for that, you worthless vermin!"

It was then that the three remaining villains decided the time for games was over. Warlock Bomber used his Black Magic to unleash some of his strongest spells possible. He began by casting Firaga, then Thundaga, and afterwards, Blizzaga. The combined attacks hurt Wario's group, but Yuffie healed them with Curaga, followed by Regen, Protect, and Shell, nearly exhausting all of her magic energy. Then Warlock dualcast Silence upon her in addition to Dispel toward us all, though Yuffie used an Echo Herb and a vial of Ether (the latter known for recovering magic energy) to cure herself before casting Reflect on her friends. Warlock mocked her, unleashing Flare to be reflected back at him, _and_ re-bounced back at the heroes. 5-Volt gasped, but quickly summoned the Mist Dragon in time to shield her friends with its body, whilst it retaliated with its misty Radiant Breath before disappearing so further damage could be inflicted upon itself. Crasher and Blaster advanced upon the heroic group with the Magnet Missiles from Magnet Bomber's head, the flamethrower from Golem Bomber's head, and even the aptly-named "Heart Bombs" from Evil Pretty Bomber's head. Finally, the two killers shot out more ammo from their machine guns, followed by cluster missiles and laser beams powered by Brain Bomber and Plasma Bomber's heads, via the mech's knees. The combined attacks became virtually impossible to avoid at this point, with everyone injured - though miraculously nothing serious.

"Letting the Four Contras run off was the biggest mistake you've ever made!" gloated Crasher. "You had that advantage!"

"Even if they do reach Lord Red Falcon himself," added Blaster, "they can't do jack crap to kill him!"

Cheerful White grunted in pain. "We're not...licked yet...and neither is 9-Volt!"

Cool Black got up from the floor. "We've destroyed Bagular's mech before...!"

And Cute Pink finished her Bomber-pals' pep talk by saying, "We can still...beat your Super Titanium mech...!"

Crasher mockingly shook his head no. "If you really miss that kid so much, we'll be happy to help you join him...All you losers had to do was ask!" To emphasize his point, he and Blaster shot out more Heart Bombs towards the three Bomber-children, almost killing them; not even Kat, Ana, nor Phoebe could avoid getting blasted either. "Now what was that about 'beating our Super Titanium mech', again?"

Blaster laughed heartily. "Oh, that's a good one! Anyway, before you die, we have to admit: we were surprised we're not the only ones interested in creating an army of Bombermen! At least, that's what we heard from Purple Basilisk and Warlock Bomber..."

"What the hell are you on about?!" questioned Wario.

Warlock Bomber answered, "Not only that, but before our arrival, there already was a secret base on Galuga Island - thankfully made just for us!"

Mona felt confused. "No, but seriously...what are you guys talking about...?"

"Poor Earthlings. There are some things you're better off not knowing. But hey, you don't have to worry about them when we're done killing you!"

Suddenly, Wario got up and clung onto the mech's cockpit. "I've got just one thing to say, and one thing only..."

With that, the president of WarioWare bent over, and unleashed his Wario Waft - a really HUGE fart, surprisingly malfunctioning the killing machine's systems. It went out of control, flailing its arms about, which every hero dodged. Warlock Bomber, on the other hand, was smashed by accident; Yuffie charged up her Conformer for a powerful Star Beam, thanks to the enhancement Penny and Blaze Bomber infused prior to our final mission. Its burst of light sent Warlock Bomber crashing into Crasher and Blaster's mech via Golem Bomber's head; not even his souped-up Reflect spell could counteract the beam because of its additional ability to dispel evil magic.

"EEYYARRGH!" cried Crasher. "Stupid moron...get off of us!"

"You're gonna pay for that, Wario!" grunted Blaster.

Wario still had his fists up. "Not yet! This one's for my - I mean, one of our finest pals at WarioWare!"

Wario, Mona, Yuffie, Cheerful White, Cool Black, and Cute Pink shared some bombs with each other (while White, Black, and Pink were still powered by the Star Drinks) in order to pierce the Super Titanium alloy - and deliver the final blow. At the same time, they all hurled the cartoon bombs at the malfunctioning mech, followed by Phoebe's well-aimed explosive bowling ball from her blessed Super Scope. The combined blasts ignited the Wario Waft, thus setting off an even _bigger_ explosion, finally killing Warlock Bomber and destroying Crasher and Blaster's giant mech.

[End BGM]

"AAAAAAARRRRGGHHH!" screamed Crasher.

"DAMN YOOOOOOOUU!" cursed Blaster.

When the explosion (and smoke) cleared, all that remained were the nearly-dead Crasher, Blaster, and the Five Dastardly Bombers. The two weakened killers grunted as they tried to get up, only to cough up some blood from their mouths, and fell back down on the floor face-first. Wario and all the other heroes, however, fainted after having taken so much damage during the long fight. It was all up to me, Ami, Bill, and Lance to finish the job once and for all...

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Part 1 of the grand finale has come and gone, but Red Falcon, Sniper Bomber, and Axe Bomber aren't planning on going down without a good fight. I'll probably wait until at least November 1 since Halloween draws near (that, and I am currently doing a Halloween special fic as we speak) - not to mention the fact that I intend for the epilogue to conclude "Return of the Five Dastardly Bombers!" in style. Other than that, see you next time!


End file.
